Madam, - As a middle-aged male of the old style, I am not supposed to cry when reading newspaper reports. But I cried when I read Lorna Siggins's account of the last minutes of Ms Catharine Palmer and her two daughters before she drove off Ballindeereen pier (The Irish Times, January 29th).
I cried when I read about the plight of Mr Roy Palmer. I cried when I read of the very limited care provided by the eminent psychiatrist and local hospital.
The really frightening thing is that the limited and inadequate level of support provided to Mrs Palmer was probably as good as that available to most of our population when in need of psychiatric care. When will mental health care be taken seriously? - Yours, etc.,
TERRY GILLESPIE, The Glebe, Stradbally, Co Laois.