Sir, – Whatever about the rights and wrongs concerning the rendition of a rebel song by John Delaney of the FAI, it should be borne in mind that songs of a jingoistic nature, otherwise known as national anthems, are regularly performed at football stadiums throughout the world.
The national anthem of the United States speaks of "rockets red glare, bursting in air", while the British anthem calls on God to "scatter her [the Queen's] enemies" and our own national anthem, translated into English, tells us that "cannons roar and rifles peal". – Yours, etc, JOHN FAGAN, Killiney, Co Dublin. Sir, – To offer some empathy and solidarity to John Delaney, I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to anybody over the years who may have heard me singing Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues. I, in no way, advocate the senseless shooting of men in Reno just to watch them die.
I would also like to promise that from now on I will no longer sing Maxwell's Silver Hammer by the Beatles, I Shot the Sheriff by Bob Marley.
And to my wife: I have destroyed my Tom Jones CD as I now appreciate the dangerous influence that the singing along to Why, Why, Why Delilah might one day have on our relationship. – Yours, etc, DARREN WILLIAMS, Sandyford, Dublin 18.
Sir, – FAI chief executive John Delaney is undoubtedly a remarkable football man.
Who else could shoot themselves in the foot, score an own-goal while blatantly offside? – Yours, etc, MICHAEL CULLEN, Sandycove, Co Dublin.