Sir, - It is reported in the Japanese newspapers that the Minister for Culture has abdicated responsibility for the fate of Riversdale House. The devastation of Dublin has gone on so long with official sanction that she may imagine that what is involved is merely the destruction of one more historic building. Wrong: this time it is Ireland's reputation.
Yeats belongs to the world, and our worst enemies could not have devised a surer means to discredit us. If this philistinism continues as government policy, no government representative of can ever again speak of Irish culture without inviting ridicule. - Yours, etc.,
Prof Ciaran Murray, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan.