Sir, - Is it not somewhat ironic that in The Irish Times (May 15th) we have Ms Katie Donovan, in an article entitled "A survivor of the 1950s", writing about someone who "survived the repressed Ireland of the past", in particular "Catholic Ireland", and on the next page Mr Desmond Fennell pointing out how in the 1990s we Irish are being ruled by "an authoritarian power more intrusive in detail than any church, and backed by police and courts go boot, I.Q, the State.
Those culpable for seeking to erode personal freedoms and telling us how to live our lives through legislation, i.e., politicians (with the backing of many social commentators), are among those who castigate the Catholic Church for "interfering in" the institution of marriage and yet probably approve (or are perhaps even the instigators) of requiring consenting individuals to give three months' notice to the State before being allowed to marry.
Perhaps Ms Donovan should be a little less quick to use the word "repressed" for the Ireland of the past and look around at the Ireland of today: she won't have to look too far to see the Thought Police (a politically incorrect word for our moral teachers and moral providers) at work. - Yours, etc., St Kevin's Parade, Dublin 8.