Sir, – Miriam Lord's description of the "quiet funeral" of Tom Gilmartin and her tribute to his legacy was an example of all that is good in Irish journalism (Home News, November 27th).
The picture of the coffin being carried through the cemetery with the bare hills in the background was bereft of pomp and splendour and was very appropriate for the man.
Tom Gilmartin had the temerity to take on the arrogance and avarice of Celtic tiger Ireland.
Anyone who criticised the status quo in Ireland then was labelled a whinger, a loser and was dismissed as irrelevant. The malign effects of the recklessness and the vulgarity that was at the core of what was going on, and which eventually ended with a bankrupt country, was ignored by most.
But it was not ignored by Tom Gilmartin. All of us should be grateful for that. – Yours, etc,
ANTHONY LEAVY,
Shielmartin Drive,
Sutton, Dublin 13.
Sir, – It was heartening to read Miriam Lord’s gentle article on the funeral of Tom Gilmartin; an Irish civil patriot of a rare ilk, who did his country a valuable service. – Yours, etc,
PADRAIG J O’CONNOR,
Lower Dodder Road,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 14.