Madam, - I am writing to express my gratification to you for publishing the recent speech by Emily O'Reilly in your paper of November 11th.
I could not agree more with what she said about our new-found wealth. She describes the negative implications of this with deadly accuracy and tells us all what we really are like. I think the most accurate description by Ms O'Reilly was "the brutal, random violence that infects the smallest of our towns and villages". This is the truth that is facing us all.
I believe that if we listened to her the country could turn itself around. The "pleasures of love, of companionship, of reading, of art, of sharing one's gifts, of seeking to attain ever higher understanding of the mysteries, beauties and even ugliness that surround us" constitute the only wealth that matters. - Yours, etc.,
KEVIN O'NEILL, (Transition Year Student), Clonkeen, Carbury, Co Kildare.