Madam, - My Swedish dictionary informs me that the word 'ombudsman' combines the Swedish words for 'representative' (ombuds) and 'people' (man). Its meaning is 'representative of the people'.
Emily O'Reilly's proposed genderisation of a Swedish word would therefore undermine the status of the office. An 'ombudswoman' would not be the the representative of all of the people.
And just in case Ms O'Reilly comes across the word 'man' in Japanese may I tell her, in advance, that it simply means 'ten thousand'.
Fiddle as much as you like with English, but please leave other peoples' languages alone. - Yours, etc.,
DÓNAL FELLOWS¨, Douglas Close, Douglas Village East, Cork.
Madam, - The title of the post will surely be irrelevant if the person has a property Womandated. - Yours, etc.,
DERMOT SHERLOCK, Weston Park, Churchtown, Dublin 14.