Sir, - I do not have a problem with Fintan O'Toole's statement that the public has the right to know how doctors are regulated. I do have a problem with his mean spirited personal attack on Dr. Teresa Iglesias (January 24th).
I came fairly late in life to the discipline in which Dr. Iglesias is an internationally acknowledged expert. I have a different starting point from her. Often I come to different conclusions. This does not mean that I do not respect her views. Contrary to Mr. O'Toole's assertion, a little reading would inform him that these views to which he objects are not simply the views of conservative Roman Catholics.
He is entitled to disagree with Dr. Iglesias's conclusions, but he should do so in an appropriate way. To use his column to launch a very personal attack on a witness in the Ivor Browne case goes, I would suggest, beyond his remit. Quite honestly it smacks of vindictiveness, even viciousness, which is never edifying and most particularly not so in a columnist of a national newspaper. Yours etc,
Balkil Road,
Howth,
Co Dublin