Sir, – Trevor White's article ("Why do Irish people take so little pride in Dublin", Life, March 17th) makes the astonishing claim that, with reference to the Irish people, "most of our citizens can't stand Dublin", while attempting to substantiate this assertion with reference to an unnamed survey commissioned by Dublin City Council in 2010 which "revealed that just 26 per cent of Irish people have any emotional connection to the capital". Such a conclusion based on this evidence is at best unscientific, and at worst disingenuous and provocative in equating a lack of an "emotional connection" with not being able to "stand" our capital city.
The many facets of “Irishness”, of Dublin and of this country’s relationship with the rest of the world are truly unique, and our culture, heritage, music and games are seen as inclusive and accessible to anyone with an interest, without being limited to people “of” or “from” this country, and indeed Ireland is known as a fantastically diverse, welcoming and interesting place that is enjoyed by millions of visitors each year.
The urban-rural divide is an inevitable feature of any society. I would have hoped that particularly at this time of year, when the eyes of the world are on Ireland, that readers could be spared the jaded cliches about “parochialism and provincialism”, and the divide between Dublin and “the rest of the country”.
Perhaps our energies and the energies and exceptional capabilities of Mr White and others like him would be better spent celebrating all that is good about this country and its peoples, rather than dwelling on or exaggerating our perceived differences. – Yours, etc,
BARRY COLFER,
Pembroke College,
University of Cambridge,
England.