Sir, - I am bemused and intrigued by Prof Harry Ferguson's plea (May 10th) for subsidised access to The Irish Times online for the unemployed and students. How much does Prof Ferguson think it costs to log on long enough to use the service, compared with the price of the paper? And where are these people to access the Internet - on the laptops which come bundled with their student/benefits cards?
Free access may be available in public or college libraries, but surely those are the very places where a selection of daily papers is freely available already?
I must admit that I access the Internet free at work, and use this perk to scan your publication online, but mainly to read letters such as this, which shine out among the rants, witticisms, complaints and, in this case, a one-liner on bird migration, to lighten my day.
Is Professor Ferguson real, or is this a witty piece of satire at the expense of the reputation of oh-so-PC social workers, possibly thought up by someone with too much time on their hands - a student, perhaps, or one of those lucky unemployed people with limitless Internet access? As for paying for this service, I don't think so. That's the thing about the Internet: there is always someone else doing the same thing, usually better, and almost always free. - Yours, etc.,
BRIAN BOYLE,
Bessborough Court,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6.