This is my sixth letter urging our DAERA minister to introduce a Climate Change Act in NI. My words to date have been imbued with an underlying tone of urgency and frustration. The aim of this strategy was to force the minister to act now. I was naïve to believe this level of change could happen overnight, as the old proverb goes: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him/her drink”. Like me, the minister is a human being, with his own characteristics and I now want to honour that by trusting him to do his job. I want to take President Eisenhower’s approach: “Leadership is the art of getting someone to do something you want done because he/she wants to do it.”
Under the minister’s guidance, the DAERA climate change team have opened a public consultation on a Climate Change Act for NI until February 1. We have all been given the opportunity to have our say in our future, a government involving the people, a democracy. I was pleasantly surprised to read the minister’s foreword,
“NI is not immune to impacts of climate change, it is essential we adopt a sustainable approach working towards making businesses and society more resilient, sustainable and resource efficient. The outcome will help deliver a resilient recovery through greener, low carbon and circular economy.”
Crucially, the minister continues to state: “These actions can be strengthened through the introduction of Northern Ireland legislation that is evidence-based. By being evidence-based, the legislation can be tailored for Northern Ireland’s specific circumstances.”
I know a private members act was submitted back in October 2020, but the minister is determined to introduce his own evidence-based bill. As a natural leader myself, I understand this, he wants to leave his own legacy. I will now step back and allow the minister to do his job and I will do mine. I believe our paths will cross in the future as my geothermal energy research develops into a viable low carbon option to meet the targets the act will set out. I too would like to leave a legacy for my son.
I have one final closing challenge to the minister. Your writing has inspired me, but that is only words on a page. Why not come out into the public and let your words inspire this nation? Speak passionately on the national news about the opportunity this evidence gathering consultation presents the people of Northern Ireland. As the Bible teaches us: “Words satisfy the soul as food satisfies the stomach; the right words on a person’s lips bring satisfaction”. Proverbs 18:20.
For anyone interested in having their say please visit: www.daera-ni.gov.uk/consultations/climatechangediscussion
JOSEPH IRELAND
Newcastle, Co Down
Little knowledge is a dangerous thing
It is bewildering indeed to read Chris Donnelly’s assertions about my country of birth, East Germany (GDR), a place he by his own admission knows nothing about (January 4). Perhaps it is incorrect to say nothing. Nothing would be better. In fact, Mr Donnelly’s knowledge is wholly shaped by the outright propaganda film The Lives of Others and he does not question any of it. The Lives of Others is a film made by the West for the West – to reinforce all its prejudices: a people under the scrutiny and control of the state and its security forces. Astonishing gullibility, for someone coming from the six counties.
Had Mr Donnelly truly wished to find out anything about the GDR, he might have looked out for films made by GDR filmmakers. Or even the documentary A Perfect Crime (on Netflix) which examines how West Germany came in to grab all the property, factories, shipyards, etc that they could get their hands on, for often no more than a Euro. He might have found out how to this day, over 30 years after unification, workers in the east earn less for the same work than their western counterparts and pensioners in the east also receive less. Or how women have been forced to return to their ‘traditional’ roles from the total economic independence and complete birth control they enjoyed when they lived in the GDR. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
JENNY FARRELL
Oranmore, Co Galway
DUP has been consistent on one point – failure
LAST year will be remembered for many things such as Covid, Brexit, RHI, chaos as usual at Stormont and the health crisis. But for sheer arrogance and self serving it will be hard to rival the DUP when it comes to betraying and ignoring their voters. We now officially know that Northern Ireland is no longer ‘as British as Finchley’ with a border in the Irish Sea. The DUP ignored the voters of Northern Ireland when they voted against Brexit. As usual the DUP policy is that they don’t care what the majority vote for if they disagree. Democracy is something that the DUP clearly doesn’t believe in. As someone from the unionist community who voted Remain and challenged the government in the Supreme Court I hope that those unionists who voted for the DUP can finally see how and why unionism is in such a bad place at the minute. They believed in a party led by not a leader but by a section of the worst of unionism. They believed they were the king makers at Westminster and trusted Boris Johnson, Theresa May and the Tory party to do what they promised. This shows just how naive they are. The Tories sold them out and used them by feeding their ego. Whether it is victims issues, justice, truth, democracy, or Brexit the DUP has been consistent on one point – failure. So now as we go into 2021 those seeking a united Ireland can say “thank you” to the DUP, the party that destroyed unionism and made it look bad to the outside world.
RAYMOND McCORD
Belfast BT15
Pfizer vaccine confusion
No doubt the vaccination jab offers hope to people, all grateful to the dedicated staff administering it, but is that hope justified?
The manufacturers of one of the vaccines, Pfizer and Biontech, have stressed that the only trial of their vaccine used a system of two doses, separated by 21 days and this clearly showed that maximum immunity of 95 per cent was not reached until seven days after the second dose. Pfizer’s figure for interim immunity, 14 days after the first dose, is
52 per cent (New England Journal of Medicine) and does not support a conclusion on single dose efficacy because the observation time is limited to the three weeks before the participants received the follow up jab. They conducted no single dose only trials to make a reasonable comparison.
“Follow the science” cries Health Minister Swann and his executive health boffins. Well, science say two doses, separated by 21 days. If the Health Minister has information that the rest of us do not, he should let us know, instead of telling us in three months time that he did all the wrong things for all the right reasons.
WILSON BURGESS
Derry City
Expression of thanks
Cavaliers In Need wish to thank the people of Belfast who gave so generously at our Street collection on Tuesday December 22 2020. We raised £1,060.22.
ANTHEA SPROULE
