Madam, – I was astonished and saddened to see the report in (Home News, April 2nd) of an attempt by the board of St Patrick’s Cathedral to silence Dean Robert MacCarthy.
Dr MacCarthy is a controversialist, and I do not always share his views. But I strongly support his right to engage in public debate. The suggestion that he should submit correspondence for the censorship of his own board is inappropriate and insulting. In addition, it is completely unenforceable. It is fatuous in the extreme for the board to exercise powers which even the spokesman for the board Alan Graham acknowledges that it does not possess.
The Dean of St Patrick’s has historically enjoyed considerate independence, a tradition gloriously vindicated by a succession of deans from Jonathan Swift to Victor Griffin. What Swift would make of the present ludicrous engagement by the board one can only imagine. I am glad Mr Graham’s original letter was published on April 1st. It was a most appropriate date. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Even if, for the sake of argument, the Dean of St Patrick’s views on Muslims and freedom of religion in Turkey should be wrong (“President’s views of EU and Turkey”, April 30th), how can the board of St Patrick’s Cathedral believe that a contrived politeness is preferable to debate? Without informed debate, how will we ever get to the truth?
Rather than have Dr MacCarthy challenge discredited politicians, unctuously toeing the EU Commission line, or image-conscious churchmen, steeped in the diplomacy of accommodating barbaric, intolerant practices of powerful, alien cultures, Alan G Graham and his colleagues on the board would gag him. Why instead do they not challenge Dr MacCarthy’s views? It seems that their frayed nerves can cope only with silence. What about the service of Christianity, of Ireland? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Did the board or chapter of St Patrick's of the day give their imprimatur to A Modest Proposalor to Gulliver's Travels? – Yours, etc,