Madam, - As a long-time emigrant who has lived in several different countries I have probably had more cause than most to explore the nostalgic possibilities presented by the world's Irish bars. The recent All-Ireland Hurling Final reminded me why I gave up on them many years ago and why many of them should be prosecuted under the local equivalent of the Trade Descriptions Act.
My wife and little daughter - complete with her Kilkenny hurling outfit - went to one of the larger Irish bars here in Barcelona to try to watch the game. Each of the bar's two sections had a large TV screen, one of which was showing a Spanish league soccer game; the other was switched off.
We approached the barmaids, all of whom were Australian, and asked whether they would be showing "the game" on that second screen. The answer was affirmative and they switched on Sky Sports, which was about to screen the Tottenham-Norwich game in the English Premiership. Mention of the All-Ireland final was greeted with the question, "The what?"
Suffice it to say that we did not get to see the hurling. Perhaps it was just as well for us, since Cork deservedly beat Kilkenny and reversed last year's outcome.
However we still have a problem for next year. Since there is English soccer on every Sunday in September and that seems to be what Irish bars like to show, where can we watch the All-Ireland Hurling Final of 2005 - in an English bar? - Yours, etc.,
HUGH SHEEHY, Ramon Trias Fargas, Barcelona, Spain.