Letters: Coppola’s classic film is a reminder of where we are with Israel’s war on Gaza

Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 masterpiece about the horrors of war and man’s descent into insanity, drew parallels with what is happening in Gaza from the mostly young audience who were probably seeing it on the big screen for the first time.

It’s not too much of a stretch to see Brando’s character, Colonel Walter Kurtz, as Benjamin Netanyahu in defying all reason and overseeing the killing of innocents with some of his mad-dog cabinet members emulating Colonel Bill Kilgore’s (Robert Duvall) air cavalry attack on a Viet Cong village and the wanton destruction of all human life.

The United Nations, the International Criminal Court, the student protesters and all right-thinking people around the world who are appalled at what is unfolding before our eyes can be viewed as Captain Benjamin Willard’s (Martin Sheen) mission to take out the God-defying Kurtz and his band of crazy worshippers.

Will Gaza end up like Vietnam and forever be another interminable discussion on the horrors of war and man’s depravity towards one another? Communism was the catalyst in the 1960s and ’70s.

Now it’s religion and xenophobia, with the same effects played over and over. Will mankind ever learn or are we going to descend into the darkness once again where the act of killing provides man with its fundamental catharsis?

Tom McElligott, Listowel, Co Kerry

Energy concerns make decision not to explore our waters difficult to fathom

If we didn’t have an impending energy shortfall, we would not be building a new gas-fired station in Dublin, nor would we be keeping Moneypoint open and running the old peat-fired plant in Innishannon on massive diesel generators.

Developing nuclear energy would take forever. We do have an offer of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) ­terminal in Foynes and potential gas fields off Kinsale and the Corrib. However, that is inhibited by the crazy decision, by all parties in the Dáil, to ban exploration in Irish waters.

LPG, windmills and other energy providers can always be dismantled when we find the magic fuel bullet, in the same way we dismantled the ESB chimneys at the Pigeon House. Where is the opposition in all of this?

Michael Foley, Rathmines, Dublin

Reform system or the TV licence dodgers will keep laughing at those who pay

With a review of the TV licence under way, I would like to express the following views.

I have always paid my TV licence. I now realise that RTÉ did not appreciate my contribution to public service broadcasting.

This is proven by the scandals reported in two very expensive reports.

The licence contributors are funding those who are obliged to pay for a TV licence but choose not to.

The Government appears ready to maintain the TV licence requirements along with throwing in its own subvention. That can be read as another tax.

This all leads to an obvious question: How many TV licences does the Government expect the compliant citizen to pay for?

Is it their own one plus that of the non-contributors, plus a subvention to RTÉ?

The solution seems quite clear: raise funding for public-service broadcasting from public taxation. It is the only fair way.

No wonder those who have no TV licence laugh at those who do.

Paddy Murray, Castlepollard Co Westmeath

Tories would struggle to sign the selfie generation up for national service

In keeping with all major elections – and definitely where the larger parties are concerned – many kites are flown to gauge the contents of their manifesto.

One of the most unlikely to gain traction is the moronic oxymoron of mandatory volunteering for a type of national service if the Tories retain power.

Apart from the obvious unworkability of such a scheme, there would be many other insurmountable obstacles preventing young men and women from signing up. Simply put, they would not have the time – what with smartphones, gaming, manicuring, botoxing and taking selfies.

David Ryan, Co Meath

O’Rourke proves class is permanent with gracious evaluation of loss to Louth

My late parents were proud Meath folk and revered Colm O’Rourke in his playing days with the Royals. He is now the county manager.

His honesty in gracefully accepting that Meath had been beaten fairly and squarely by a superior Louth team was no less than they would have expected of the man.

Tom Gilsenan, Beaumont, Dublin 9

Owners of vacant homes should at least feel a duty to keep them looking tidy

I find it unbelievable and disgraceful to see so many houses vacant and left to deteriorate. Who owns these properties and why are they left vacant?

Can the owners either sell or rent, or at the very least tidy them up outside? I��m referring to simple things such as cutting the grass, trimming hedges and giving a building a lick of paint.

Show some respect for the neighbours who go to great lengths to keep an area tidy.

To those people who own vacant houses and are unwilling to sell, do the right thing by checking in on them and tidying them up.

Michael Naughton

Knocknacarra Park, Co Galway

Many people don’t talk politics, but SF poll slump shows they understand it

A significant poll slump in the fortunes of Sinn Féin shows that the silent majority are more in tune with reality than the wishful thinkers of the perceived socialist left.

Robert Sullivan

Bantry, Co Cork

Leinster can bounce back from final heartache and plan for a future of success

What doesn’t kill you can make you stronger. Leinster can live to go from the vanquished to the victors another day. No time for feeling blue.

Ed Toal

Galway city