Madam, - I am surprised that The Irish Times chose to publish a fairly critical article about me without getting my views at first hand ("No love game as Curran lets fly", Sports, May 10th).
Had your reporter done so, I would have had the opportunity to clarify some of the remarks he dwelt upon, notably my attitude to playing for Ireland and to my education in Dublin.
As I stated in the British tennis magazine from which he quoted, I was immensely proud to be the youngest ever Irish Federation Cup player. Coming from Northern Ireland, perhaps, I stated my sense of feeling British too strongly, but that never deterred me from giving my utmost for Ireland. In that respect, I am pleased to have one of the best records of any Irish Fed Cup player.
What I am not so proud about was finding out in 2003 that I was dropped, and being told that I would be disregarded for selection because I only had a world doubles ranking. This struck me as surprising to say the least, since Ireland is hardly endowed with players who have made the world top 100, and, even more important, since doubles can be crucial to winning or losing in the Federation Cup, as with the Davis Cup.
Tennis Ireland's decision to change the rules of selection, for whatever reason, effectively ended my hopes of playing international tennis for Ireland again, at a time when my world ranking was rising. At that point I applied successfully to change allegiance and, having satisfied the International Tennis Federations criteria, was selected for Great Britain in the 2006 Federation Cup, where I subsequently won all four of the matches I played in.
Through accident of birth, I come from a part of this island which shares British and Irish traditions. The fact that I have managed to represent both of them in the international tennis arena - to actually have had the Tricolour beside my name on the Wimbledon scoreboard one year and the Union Flag the next - underlines that point.
Many, many people in Dublin and throughout Tennis Ireland helped me get to where I am today - not least Matt Doyle, in whose time the national team prospered greatly. I am indebted to them all, contrary to the feelings ascribed to me in your article.
As for my reported comment about being "traumatised" as a Northern Protestant attending the excellent Teresian College in Dublin, I would just say that it refers to my days as a 14-year-old girl living away from my family home in Belfast.
My tennis training separated me from my school friends and I did feel isolated on many occasions, but that was no reflection on the wonderful teachers and on my fellow pupils at Teresian, with whom I went on to spend four very happy years.
I regret very much that my comments may have given any other impression. Let me repeat, I am proud to have represented both Ireland and Great Britain on the tennis court and am most grateful to all who supported me in Dublin and elsewhere to achieve my goal of making the top 100 this year. - Yours, etc,
CLAIRE CURRAN, Wimbledon, London SW19.