Sir, – I enjoyed Ian Duhig's reminiscences of his English upbringing, "Second-generation Irish: 'We were outsiders among the English – and the Irish too'," (Culture, June 26th).
However, as a second generation Irish Londoner myself, I cannot relate to his claim that: “If Irish immigrants’ children of my generation felt outsiders among the English, we were outsiders among the Irish too”.
Growing up in London, I felt totally English and completely accepted. Likewise, I was always immediately integrated into the huge gang of kids on my grandparents’ suburban south Dublin road when I stayed with them for several weeks every summer. Friendships made then have lasted a lifetime.
Indeed, though born and bred in England, the ties that have proved to be the most essential in my life have turned out to the Irish ones. – Yours, etc,
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JOE McCARTHY,
Arbour Hill, Dublin 7.