Sir, - I'm sure it won't perturb the lady unduly, but there are few people who have gone down in my estimation so rapidly as our erstwhile President, Mary Robinson.
I mean, I was fully prepared to forgive her almost indecent haste in departing the Aras in pursuit of a better offer, but this latest kerfuffle, where she has refused to have an eminent Irish journalist cover her fact-finding trip to Tibet, really takes the Chinese cookie.
Mrs Robinson would do well to descend from her ivory tower for a moment and remember that it was we, the people of Ireland - yes, Mna agus Fir na hEireann - who made her what she is today. In fact, if memory serves me correctly, it was The Irish Times's exposure of the Lenihan-PhoneCalls-to-the-Aras affair which put Mary Robinson ahead of the candidate who was, till then, the runaway favourite for the top job.
And now she has the temerity to exclude your own Conor O'Clery from her entourage! There's gratitude for you. - Yours, etc., D.K. Henderson,
Castle Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin 3.