A chara, – Fintan O'Toole needs to get a grip ("Ireland's portrayal of itself as the purest, holiest or richest country has brought us lies and exclusion", Opinion & Analysis, June 17th).
I’m older than he is. Neither at home nor at school with the Christian Brothers nor in public debate did I get the impression that Ireland was or is the best place in the world.
There was and is much that was wrong, and much for which to be thankful. There were and are individuals with highly exaggerated opinions in both directions. There were and are many scoundrels and an even greater number of decent, hardworking people who saw what needed to be done, and some who managed to embody both.
But despite the great difficulties in the decades following independence, we did not fall into the trap of dictatorship, as did some other European countries. We did not resort to legislating for compulsory sterilisation of those who were elsewhere considered unfit to improve the national gene pool, as was done in other European countries and in much of the United States.
We have had many failures, and sadly many people were deeply hurt. It would be a further injustice to fail to appreciate the work and dedication and idealism of the great numbers of people of various faiths and none, whose contribution can more than balance Mr O’Toole’s perspective. – Is mise,
PÁDRAIG McCARTHY,
Blackthorn Court,
Sandyford, Dublin 16.
Sir, – It is such a relief to encounter the views of Fintan O’Toole, a person of such superior insight and intelligence, such scholarly historical and social knowledge and analysis, shining brightly in the midst of his benighted and severely deluded countrymen and women. Perhaps, no better words could be crafted to describe such assurance than his own second sentence of the column. “People who are uncertain about themselves sometimes deal with their anxiety by creating an exaggerated image of superiority.” – Yours, etc,
D O’SIORAIN,
Northbrook Road,
Ranelagh, Dublin 6.