Madam, – We have failed to secure a spot in the 2010 World Cup. Time to plan for the next one. Our first step must be to bring back from exile in the Faroe Islands the only Irish manager to win tournaments at international level.
Our under-age level teams are failing miserably and we need a fresh conveyor-belt of talent for 2014 and 2018. Bring back Brian Kerr with a mandate to work with Ireland’s under-age teams and deliver the next generation of players. – Yours, etc,
PETER FOLEY,
Cahercalla,
Ennis, Co Clare.
ANTHONY RYAN,
Castle Avenue,
Clontarf, Dublin 3.
Madam, – Fifa: Fair is foul and (foul is fair), – The witches, Act I, Scene I, Macbeth, William Shakespeare. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I agree entirely with Brian O’Connor’s sentiments (Opinion, November 20th). At the time of the handball incident we were winning nothing, it was a draw at the time, but to listen to most complainants it would appear that we were already on our way to South Africa.
The vast majority of comments emanated from people who have never kicked a ball in their lives. The object of every professional athlete is to win and sometimes at all costs. A true competitive professional will try to bend the rules to his or her favour because there are professional referees and assistants employed to rule the game as they see it. If they miss something like this they may be deemed negligent and not the player. I am looking at this as a footballer and not as an emotional fan.
After the game there is a mechanism to sanction any player who might attempt to bring the game into disrepute. We will wait to see if Fifa enforces this rule and then we will know exactly what it thinks.
The Irish team was magnificent on the night and they did not deserve to be let down by officialdom. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The French légion d’honneur is awarded for excellent civil conduct and achievement regardless of nationality. Would it not be fitting for French President Nicolas Sarkozy to present this award to the Irish team captain Robbie Keane for the sporting Irish spirit both on and off the pitch during the World Cup play-off in Paris? “We came, we saw, we remained honourable” would be an apt description for the Irish team and supporters in Paris. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It is not so much the handball, as the blatancy of the unfairness of the outcome: it is not so much the banking-crash as the blatancy of the unfairness of the outcome.
While there is an enormous gulf in importance between the after-effects of these two happenings in the lives of those affected, there is also an essential common ground.
In each case power and money speaks more loudly than the voices of those who are left with no choice but to submit to the pain of injustice and to the agony of their own powerlessness.
What is destroyed in each case is a quality of trust that is crucial if we are to pull together in human communities. If trust is replaced by a universal acceptance of the ethos that the strongest in any situation holds sway without regard to principles of fairness and common justice, then we can expect the domino effect of that to to run through every level of society. Its influence is evident in fields of government, banking, business and sport. It is most shockingly evident in the activities of criminal gangs, the overt ethos of whose subculture is “Those who can – take”.
This ethos is fundamental to our current plight. How are we to change it? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I propose November 18th to be “National Hand to Ball Day”. During a game on this one day of the year shouts of “Handball Ref” shall be replaced with “Fair Play Ref” and such incidents shall be accepted during the match. Proceeds to a worthy cause. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – There is an argument that the introduction of a TMO (television match official) to soccer would slow down the game.
Mon Dieu,it couldn't be any slower! – Yours, etc,
Madam, – From media reports in Ireland it appears many French people are extremely unhappy at how their team qualified for the World Cup 2010. Might I suggest every French man, woman and child wear a green armband for the duration of the World Cup to show their displeasure and in so doing show the world that they would have preferred if their team had won their place with honour. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – At this stage, isn’t the reporting of Thierry Henry getting a bit out of hand? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The economy is in the gutter, unemployment is still rising, half the nation is under water and our leader is writing letters about a handball goal. Do I hear the ghost of Nero fiddling? – Yours, etc,