Madam, - The qualities of John McGahern that I would pick out are his integrity, clarity of vision and spiritual, non-materialistic values. Would that these qualities were more abundant in the Ireland of 2006 where, among other insanities, foreign nationals are assaulted because they look different, gas-guzzling SUVs fill the roads and grotesque stone-faced mansions litter the countryside. In short, we have lost the run of ourselves.
John McGahern has something vital to say to us about where we have come from, and, by inference, where we are now. Our moral and aesthetic values could do with some refurbishment. Novelists of McGahern's calibre are needed to hold up a mirror in which we can see where our society is going.
The fact that he has not been read by all Irish people should be a cause for regret, rather than being used to suggest that his impact was less than Fintan O'Toole would have it. Kevin Healy (April 4th) appears to be saying something like, "Never mind the quality, feel the width", in relation to literature. I think we should shout loudly and gratefully about this man. - Yours, etc,
TED REARDEN, Kerry Pike, Co Cork.
Madam, - I have read with enjoyment the many sympathetic tributes to John McGahern in The Irish Times, and listened with interest to heartfelt tributes given by callers to RTÉ's Liveline. I have been an admirer since I first read The Barracks, though I feel that the lyrical That They may Face the Rising Sun could have been edited just a little.
A comment which John made in an RTÉ interview some years ago, when Ireland was beginning to become affluent, but before the era of the so-called "Celtic Tiger", seemed to be profound. He said:
"We have become accustomed to living with our poverty, but we have not yet learned to live with our wealth". - Yours, etc,
JS CAMPBELL, St Luke's, Cork.