Madam, - The Ku Klux Klan is undoubtedly a major part of the the tradition of the American South. Can we expect US government funding of its cultural activities in the near future? What's that you say? Don't be ridiculous?
Why, then, is it all right for Irish taxpayers' money to go to the Orange Order? Are we going to adopt the ludicrous multiculturalism of Blair's Britain, where any cultural expression, no matter how reprehensible, must be flattered and honoured so long as it has the cloak of religion?
It is arguable that we should forgive and forget the history of sectarian bigotry as part of the Good Friday Agreement. However, the Orange Order was not just founded just to keep Catholics in their place; it was equally determined to oppose the spread of basic democratic ideals among Protestants. What is there to celebrate in either of these two raisons d'être? - Yours, etc,
TIM O'HALLORAN, Ferndale Road, Dublin 11.