Life's a beach this summer - so let's make the most it

The recent spell of good weather has seen us flocking to Dublin's sandy shores in our droves.

For a capital city, we are pretty spoiled when it comes to quality beaches on our doorstep. Northside gems include Skerries, Loughshinny, Rush (North and South), Donabate, Portmarnock, Sutton and Dollymount, while south Dublin boasts the likes of Sandymount, Seapoint, Killiney and Sandycove.

If only we had the climate, our beaches would be thronged for most of the summer months, like they were at the end of June. For the rest of the year, they are usually the preserve of dog walkers, kite surfers and keep fit enthusiasts.

•Portmarnock's Velvet Strand pictured in 1994. PHOTO BY DARREN KINSELLA

Nevertheless, we are blessed to have access to such a variety of coastal havens so close to a major European city like Dublin.

I am lucky enough to live within five minutes' walk of a fantastic beach, which I visit on a daily basis with my four-legged companion. For most of the year I am among a handful of users of this wonderful amenity and it was heartening to see it packed with locals and tourists during the recent 'heatwave'.

I must pay tribute to my local authority for implementing such an efficient early morning beach cleaning programme, which made the experience all the more pleasurable for swimmers and picnickers alike. As usual, unfortunately, some inconsiderate idiots left a trail of litter in their wake. Seriously, how hard can it be to bring your rubbish home with you?

In the case of my local beach, there is a serious shortage of bins. While this is not entirely a justification for irresponsible littering, it is an area that councils need to improve on. The problem with dog dirt in public places could also be eased if the facilities were in place to encourage responsible behaviour by pet owners.

It would also be nice, incidentally, if more public showers were installed on our beaches (particularly the ones without Blue Flags!)

Anti-social behaviour at our beaches can also ruin a perfectly good day out for families. While there were reports of near-riots in Howth at the beginning of the bathing season, I was happy to note a strong Garda presence at nearby Portmarnock on one of the hottest days of the recent warm spell.

There have been other improvements, too. Many beaches (including my local one) have been closed off to cars in recent years on safety grounds. Once a magnet for brainless boy racers, our sandy shores have been rid of this menace once and for all.

Parents also need to be mindful of safety when their children take to the water. An inviting sea can be an unpredictable, dangerous beast and rip currents or rising tides need to be taken into account. Despite the presence of lifeguards, remember that they are not babysitters and it is primarily the job of parents to ensure their child's safety in the water. Cheap floating devices or toy store dinghies should also be discouraged at all times.

We can only hope that the best of the summer is not behind us so we can continue to enjoy Dublin's enviable selection of seaside hot spots.

Tears are not enough to resolve medical card fiasco

Health Minister James Reilly has a tendency to get emotionally involved in the plight of others and can turn on the waterworks with the frequency of Eamon Dunphy. Fortunately for him, the Government has no proposals at present to install water meters on our tear ducts.

For all his perceived failings as a minister, at least he comes across as sensitive and humane. Personally I like that about him and see it as a strength rather than a weakness. However, it does make his department's shambolic handling of the discretionary medical cards fiasco all the more difficult to understand.

•Face in the crowd: Minister for Health, James Reilly. PHOTO BY DARREN KINSELLA

After the coalition parties received a right old kicking in the recent local and European elections, the penny finally dropped. There appeared to be a sudden realisation that the electorate didn't approve of medical cards being removed from some of the most vulnerable members of society.

The Government's response to public outrage seemed to be: "Really, you didn't like it when we did that? Why didn't you say something? If only we had known."

The Taoiseach himself announced that the callous cull would be suspended and ordered an immediate review of the eligibility criteria for entitlement to cards to be based on specific medical conditions rather than household income. It was expected that this review would be finalised in a matter of months, ending the misery and uncertainty for those with lifelong illnesses or disabilities.

Maybe - just maybe - this Government was starting to cop itself on.

But not exactly. Minister Reilly has since announced that discretionary medical cards will now be restored to over 15,000 people. Quite rightly, he apologised to those with serious illnesses who had been affected. This, he said, was an "unintended consequence" of the decision to centralise the processing of cards in 2011. On this occasion the Minister managed to keep the tears at bay but his apology sounded sincere.

But this good news was tempered by Reilly's refusal to entertain the notion of compensation for those who had their medical cards taken away. He was quoted as saying that the decision to remove the cards had been made "validly and legally".

Perhaps, Minister - but what about morally?

Minister Reilly also revealed that while the expert group tasked with reviewing the criteria for eligibility of medical cards was expected to report by the autumn, legislation on the matter was unlikely to be enacted until 2015.

The Government's U-turn on medical cards is to be welcomed but kicking the legislation on new eligibility into next year has taken the fizz out of the announcement. If only the health and wellbeing of our nation could be treated with the same urgency as the banking crisis was in September 2008.

Memories of papal visit tarnished by abuse scandals

I was 10-years-old when Pope John Paul II made his celebrated visit to Ireland in September 1979. I can still vividly recall standing on a train station platform as the Aer Lingus 747 carrying him descended on Dublin, escorted by the Irish Air Corps.

I was among the 1.25 million people (almost a third of the Irish population) on their way to the Phoenix Park for the historic mass. We were herded like exported cattle onto a packed, seatless train carriage and on arrival at Ashtown made the short walk to the park. There was a carnival-like atmosphere as we anticipated our audience with the Roman Catholic Church's most senior figure. This pontiff was box office, to put in mildly. Not even the Rolling Stones were as rock 'n' roll as this Pope when it came to star power.

•The Papal Cross can evoke mixed feelings towards our Catholicism. PHOTO BY DARREN KINSELLA

We munched on ham sandwiches and packets of Tayto as the Pope said mass. The sound quality was poor and I couldn't understand his accent very well. But I remember being excited when the Popemobile started its tour of the park, craning my neck to get a glimpse of the main man. Much to my disappointment, he didn't come anywhere close to us. After mass had ended, it was impossible to get near the train station due to the large crowds and like thousands of others we had to trek, pilgrimage-style, to the city on foot.

That evening, as luck would have it, we happened to be on Sean McDermott Street just as the Pope was passing Our Lady of Lourdes Church, home to the shrine of Matt Talbot. There had been weeks of speculation that he would stop to visit the shrine but locals were left disappointed on the day when the Pope's entourage sped past the assembled crowd. The Popemobile came so close to us that were it not for the crush barriers and Garda presence we almost could have reached out and touched it. We screamed "your holiness!" as he approached. He smiled in our direction and blessed us. That moment was one of the highlights of my childhood but my precious memories of the papal visit have since been tarnished by scandals involving the Catholic Church.

It's hard not to cringe today when you look at archive television footage of hypocrites like Eamon Casey and the late Fr Michael Cleary warming up the crowd as they awaited the Pope's arrival in Galway. But their transgressions were mild in comparison with the evil depravity of other priests.

Once a stronghold of Catholicism, Ireland's devotion to the church has been rocked by revelations of child sexual abuse by members of religious orders and more recently the Tuam babies' scandal. To some extent we have almost become inured to controversies involving the Catholic Church. It took a member of the clergy, Fr Brian D'Arcy, to bring home the gravity of the case of the dead babies when he drew parallels with Nazi Germany during a radio interview on Newstalk.

Every church scandal erodes our Catholicism but not necessarily our Christian faith and beliefs. If it's a challenging time to be a Catholic in Ireland, you can only imagine how difficult it is for decent, law-abiding members of the clergy who abhor the abuse of children.

The Papal Cross in Dublin serves as a poignant reminder of more innocent times, when Ireland wore its Catholicism with pride. But for many victims of church abuse, it is a symbol of oppression. If a papal visit were to happen today, I imagine the mass would be celebrated in a much smaller venue than the Phoenix Park.

Sport is the antidote to anti-social behaviour

With the 2014 World Cup about to get underway, we are reminded of the important role that sport can play in the development of young people.

There may be a few notable exceptions, but in general soccer stars are extremely positive role models for our kids. Today's generation of top-tier players may be over-pampered and excessively paid (to put it mildly) but they do give our youngsters something to aspire to. Only a tiny minority of young footballers reach the dizzy heights of success enjoyed by Ronaldo, Van Persie or Messi. But so what? We should encourage them to chase their dreams.

•Teenagers should be encouraged to participate in sport to prevent them going down the wrong track. FILE PHOTO

A few days ago I noticed a bunch of teenagers loitering in a children's playground. Like any group of young lads hanging around, they looked more menacing than they actually were. A Garda patrol car happened to be in the park at the time. It slowed down as it approached the playground but the teens defiantly stood their ground. Realising there was nothing sinister going on, the gardaí drove off.

This particular playground has been vandalised by mindless thugs on numerous occasions. Expensive equipment has been set on fire and the surface has been badly damaged, costing the local authority tens of thousands of euro to repair it. There was nothing to suggest that this particular group of teenagers had engaged in such reckless behaviour. While they were largely harmless, their use of foul language in front of pre-school children made the atmosphere threatening and uncomfortable for parents.

The teens were a pitiful sight, really; sitting on swings and hanging out of the climbing frame like a bunch of five-year-olds. If boredom was a crime, these guys would have been guilty as charged. It was a bank holiday weekend and they had absolutely nothing to do but sit in a children's playground. Just a few metres away was an all-weather football pitch with goalposts and basketball hoops. There were enough of them there to organise a five-a-side match but they chose instead to do nothing.

Boredom can be extremely dangerous when it comes to teenagers. Kids from decent families can do stupid, out-of-character things when they are bored, from abusing alcohol to smoking a joint to shooting up heroin. A chaotic lifestyle often starts with anti-social behaviour such as vandalism and graffiti and quickly moves on to joyriding and more serious forms of criminality.

Teenage boys, in particular, are more prone to disaster if their hormonal angst and energy is not channelled in a positive way. Early intervention through sport is the best way to divert them away from a path paved with misery. Be it soccer, boxing or Gaelic Football, there are clubs in every community in Ireland full of dedicated volunteers who can help steer your teen in the right direction and make them believe in themselves.

Participating in team sports engenders a sense of camaraderie and instills confidence in young people. It promotes good health, making those who want to achieve sporting success less likely to smoke or drink. In a world of Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, it forces our youth to socialise and interact with actual people instead of virtual friends.

With secondary schools now closed (except for exam students), parents should ensure that their teenagers are kept occupied by taking up a sport or joining a summer camp. Don't let boredom win and potentially destroy your child's life.