Sir, – One need go no further than Page 7 of The Irish Times (August 1st) to assess the state of this blighted nation. There is Moira Skelly facing into the "absolute nightmare" of caring for her profoundly disabled 18-year-old daughter Ciara in the absence of full-time care services, following the latest HSE cutbacks.
Just below is a report from the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, where the gathering is assessing whatever happened to the 1916 Proclamation.
I never thought I would see the day when I agreed with Gerry Adams, but when he focuses on the Proclamation’s concern for the wellbeing of our children, in particular that they be provided with the means and facilities requisite for their proper education and training and then suggests we have failed those children . . . I have only to read Moira Skelly’s story again and say Mr Adams is right.
So we have dreamers in Donegal and the heart-breaking reality of a Dublin mother and daughter. There is no contest. There can be no contest. Either we put the Skellys and all the other struggling families at the top of the pyramid and give them all the support they need, unquestioningly (even if it means more taxation), or we declare ourselves a morally bankrupt and broken republic. – Yours etc,
JOHN QUINN,
Stradbally North,
Clarinbridge,
Co Galway.