Sir, - All the talk in the media about Dana's victory and the vote of the disenfranchised and the marginalised and those not experiencing the soft fur of the Celtic Tiger made me think of a conversation I had recently in a supermarket queue.
I met a man who, as we queued, told me of his business and its success. How he had employed just seven people 10 years ago and now employs 40, how he was exporting to the UK and mainland Europe and generally how wonderfully well it was going, and how his lifestyle had changed beyond anything he had ever imagined. A famous golf club was mentioned, holidays alluded to.
As we neared the checkout he continued in a more sombre tone; "But, you know, the Celtic Tiger isn't affecting everyone. . ."
"Oh indeed it is not," I replied, thinking of stories I hear of prostitute drug addicts, heavily pregnant on the street, desperate for a fix, of a 12-year-old boy waiting at midnight for an "after hours" bed-and-breakfast, of the damp cardboard cubby-holes on Grafton Street.
My companion gave his trolley a shove and continued: "Do you know," he said almost shocked, "there are still people driving 93 and 94D cars."
Out of the mouths of tigers. . . - Is mise,
Emma Andrews, The Stiles Road, Clontarf, Dublin 3.