Sir, - Instead of Ruairi Quinn complaining about the UK's attitude to EMU, perhaps he would do a better job as chairman of the Finance Ministers if he listened more carefully to the many reasoned arguments against a common currency.
Those of us who have worked around Europe are well aware of the disparate national social and political attitudes which can rarely be ignored when commercial survival is at stake. The political enthusiasts for monetary union either ignore this fact, or they naively believe we can all be brought into line with the FrancoGerman mentality.
Mr. Quinn and his kin should not forget that the average Irish true wealth creator, in his dealings with government and the market, has more in common with his UK counterpart than with his Continental cousins, no matter what Garret FitzGerald with his soothingly massaged statistics might say. - Yours, etc,
Kilbride, Co Wicklow.