Sir, - The fatuous slow handclap of the unladylike Women's Institute for their prime minister - their guest speaker - is an index of the decline in manners in Britain, the lack of respect for authority and the pernicious, widespread of cloning of Maggie Thatcher, the Terrible. English soccer hooliganism is another chilling manifestation.
Tony Blair is the best British prime minister for Ireland since Gladstone. He is a friend of all Irishmen, even of the raucous anacronistic card players who vilify him and who got rid of that woman of Destiny, Ms Mowlam. - Yours, etc.,
J.P. Duggan, Cedarmount Road, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin.