Sir, - I was rather taken by the letter from Ken Whitaker (February 10th). He advocates "charity - which takes the highest of principles and the greatest of courage".
I wondered if he was impressed by the charity shown by the Tanaiste when she stood third in line after Bertie and his companion when they welcomed Tony Blair from the aircraft on his visit to Ireland; or by the charity shown by the Minister for the Gaeltacht, Heritage and much else when she entered the tomb at Newgrange to view the winter solstice on December 21st third behind the Taoiseach and his partner and came out again third in line. He told the TV camera that he saw right across the chamber, and Ms Larkin said she found the experience spiritual, but nobody cared what Sile de Valera thought.
When Dick Spring was Tanaiste, he was always seen standing directly beside the Taoiseach on formal occasions and no wife or other household member ever stood between them. I believe he was thus upholding his status in government. I would also have believed that Mary Harney and Sile de Valera were upholding their status if they too had insisted on taking second place on those occasions instead of coming third. They would also have upheld the rights of women in Irish jobs.
Would some self-assertiveness have shown high principles and great courage on those ladies' parts at the time, or did they show more of these qualities by saying "all right, Bertie, after you Celia"?
Was there nobody to advise them, or am I a green-eyed monster? - Yours, etc., Marjorie Horgan,
Bishopscourt Hill, Wilton, Cork.