GEORGE WILLOUGHBY,
Sir, - Ian Beckett (January 4th) remarked on the ease with which we have embraced the euro. It's all due to the weather.
Quite simply, in order to escape this dreadful climate of ours, a couple of weeks in the sun is de rigueur for us, and until now this involved changing our currency to the one preferred at our thermic destination, so we are well used to dealing with unfamiliar coinage. Not so the wretched Italians, who live in sunny luxury all the year round, and therefore have no need to travel far in search of the elusive tan. Not for them the joys of mental gymnastics on holiday, of rediscovering the long-forgotten seven times table, indelibly imprinted on the innermost recesses of our brains decades ago. Seven fives, thirty-five pence, two and eleven. Ah yes, indeed.
Truly, our weather gives us more than green grass - it also makes our brains more fertile, and the poor overcooked Italians deserve our sympathy at a time like this. - Yours, etc.,
D. K. HENDERSON,
Castle Avenue,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3.
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Sir, - Congratulations to the Government! A virtually hiccup-free transition from punt to euro in record time. I feel that the distribution of free euro convertors to each household gave us that bit of extra confidence to grasp the nettle.
Bouquets where bouquets are due, and not a brickbat in sight. - Yours, etc.,
GEORGE WILLOUGHBY,
The Avenue,
Gorey,
Co Wexford.