Sir, – In his excellent article “Politicians still steering clear of emigration debate”, (Opinion, January 25th), Prof Diarmaid Ferriter writes about the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan “daring to dip his toes into the waters of the emigration debate”.
He adds that the Minister joins the ranks of senior politicians who have “talked themselves into trouble by daring to give their assessment of Irish people’s reasons for emigrating”.
For the record, the Minister was not daring, he was dared.
I asked him a question on the subject at a news conference in Dublin last week, and he replied, in detail.
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At the risk of extending the toe-dipping theme too far, Minister Noonan did not jump into troubled waters, he was politely pushed. – Yours, etc,