I LISTENED to Pat Rabbitte talk about historical figures he most admired over the weekend (Newstalk radio). What surprised me most was how one of the role models he selected, Big Jim Larkin, sounded just like the current leader of the modern-day Labour Party.

According to Rabbitte, Big Jim was known for his "temper" and regarded as "difficult" to work with. He was also involved in many rows and splits in the Transport and General Workers' Union, leading a walkout to form his own band of followers. I was struck by the resemblance of the two men. A former Labour spin doctor told us, following his departure from the fold, that Pat Rabbitte is "moody" and likes to "sulk, " and we all know about his background when it comes to forming new movements.

Donnacha Maguire, 35 Fr McCullen Park, Kells, Co Meath.

China could stop genocide in Darfur

DARFUR is becoming more like Auschwitz in 1944 in the sense that, like those living through the Holocaust at that time, because it has gone on for so long, people find it hard to believe it will ever end.

However, while Auschwitz was on the verge of liberation, there are no military forces massing on the border to save the millions of innocent Darfuri children, women and men caught in the death camps and killing fields of our time.

As the people of Darfur face the fourth anniversary of the unleashing of the crimes against humanity that have cost over 400,000 lives, the EU stands accused of failing to take even targeted sanction or to implement "no fly zones" to prevent the brutal Sudanese regime continuing offensive military operations.

Ireland is complicit in that failure, despite our lofty rhetoric, and the 3.5 million people dependent on aid now face a truly frightening scenario as the security situation further deteriorates and aid agencies are forced to flee.

However, like it or not, China is especially culpable because President Hu Jintao's administration is the largest investor and customer of the Sudanese oil industry and thereby keeps the country economically afloat.

The warm reception Hu received in Khartoum last week underlines just how much leverage he has over the genocidal Sudanese regime. While reports noted he mentioned Darfur to General Omar al Bashir, given the fact that he also provided a reported Euro13m for a new presidential palace as part of the loans and economic aid package he brought with him, it is clear that keeping oil flowing to maintain economic growth at home takes precedence over stopping genocide.

Hu wants the Beijing Olympics to be his crowning glory. But how can that be allowed to happen while he facilitates genocide in Darfur. Do we have any alternative left but to rename them the 'Genocide Olympics' and call for a boycott unless Hu uses his leverage to stop the killing?

Ronan Tynan, Blackrock, Co Dublin.

Papers fail to report cruelty of coursing

THE depraved Emperor Nero would have loved the National Coursing Meeting. The organised baiting of hares in a confined space, with a cheering mob urging on the participating dogs, would have been very much to his liking.

I think of Nero and his 'games' every year around this time, when Powerstown Park is turned into a tin-pot coliseum and Clonmel becomes, for three shameful days, the Cruelty Capital of Ireland.

Hares mercilessly abducted from their homes in the countryside are forced to run for their lives after weeks of captivity and unnatural 'training'.

Many hares never make it to a coursing venue because they die of injuries sustained while being netted. Many more die of disease or heart attacks in the paddocks shortly after capture.

The whole sickening abuse of our hare population is not just cruel, it is totally unnecessary.

Drag coursing, in which a mechanical lure is used, has proven a great success in Australia where it replaced live hare baiting decades ago. It replicates all the fun and excitement of coursing - without the sadism. But it seems that the coursing clubs are averse to this humane alternative.

So, it would appear, are the provincial newspapers in Tipperary and the counties that border it. I have yet to read a report on a coursing event in these publications that made even a passing reference to the cruelty involved. You'll learn from these detailed reports if Flashy Lad or Scuttery Glen scooped the honours. But nothing about the terror and trauma inflicted on defenceless animals for a few hours' entertainment.

That's not journalism. It's censorship. And the cruel, cowardly, one-sided game of chance being reported on by these newspapers is not sport, which is about fair competition. It's about the deliberate infliction of pain and suffering for pleasure.

Definitely Nero's scene.

John Fitzgerald, Lower Coyne Street, Callan, Co Kilkenny.

Report on Irish legal profession proposed

THERE is a lot of unsubstantiated talk bandied around in public circles these days about alleged consumer dissatisfaction with solicitors and barristers at all levels of the legal profession in Ireland - the Law Society, the Bar Council, the judiciary and even the court clerks are coming in for similar and equal criticism right across the legal spectrum.

I have found from my own investigations that there is little hard evidence out there to establish the existence of any of this alleged dissatisfaction, except for a plethora of unregulated comments on an American-based website that seems to be set up with the purpose of undermining the entire legal profession in this country.

I have created an independent confidential case database to give the public and members from all levels of the Irish legal professions and the courts system, the equal right to make written submissions in order that the prevalence of this alleged consumer dissatisfaction can be examined more fully and chronicled from both sides of the so-called 'divide'.

The issues raised will be published in a detailed report, which will be issued to the general public, the relevant government departments and similarly will be issued to the legal professions' regulatory bodies and to the judiciary.

Any member of the general public or any member of the Irish legal professions is welcome to write to me in confidence by post or by email to outline their grievances and points of view. Names and addresses attached to submissions will not be disclosed. All submissions are confidential and will be assigned a case number for publication.

Patrick Henderson, The Hollies, Faha East, Killarney, Co Kerry. sagepjh@gmail. com

We should know our place-names

ONLY a small minority of the Irish population have an interest in the origin and meaning of the place-names of the country.

Indeed, I'm sure that a large number - if not the majority - are unaware that the vast majority of our place-names predate the Viking, Norman and English invasions.

That is why I find it shocking and disturbing that education minister Mary Hanafin has still not said that she intends to include a chapter - or page - in the Irish syllabus on the subject.

The minister is falling down on so many fronts in relation to our national language, though, that I would be surprised if she took the question seriously.

I hope the opposition take a different line and include the subject in their policies for the Gaeilge syllabus in schools.

Darren Mac an Phríora, Corrán Chaisleán Cnucha, Caisleán Cnucha, Baile Átha Cliath.

Myles na gCopaleenmust be in stitches

SURELY Myles na gCopaleen (aka Flann O'Brien but really Brian O'Nolan) is roaring with laughter at the introduction in the year 2007 of a new bread by Guinness! The Myles na gCopaleen Central Research Bureau was working at introducing alcohol in normal foods and products such as icecream and newsprint many years ago.

But as Myles reported in his 'Cruiskeen Lawn' columns in The Irish Times, research findings were difficult because the experimenters kept becoming inebriated, yet he saw that they were "decorated. . . for gallantry and distinguished conduct in the tasting room, and [he had] not scrupled to get them the best room in the hospital."

Grainne Macken and her colleagues at Guinness have avoided that dilemma by reporting that "the alcohol content evaporates during baking."

But in a world that salivates at the mention of Guinness stew or Bailey's ice cream, can Guinness Creamy Delite ice cream, or Guinness cheesecake, be far behind?

Jeanette F Dugan Huber, Ard na Lir, Scilly, Kinsale, Co Cork.