Sir, – It has almost become a tradition in our country for US presidents and other visiting dignitaries to be photographed with a pint of the black stuff.
The opportunity to encourage a president to go behind the counter in a pub to pull a pint or to drink one might be seen as harmless fun but nothing could be further from the truth.
For many it is seen as an endorsement of a product that has brought hardship and misery to so many families. The image of the late Queen Elizabeth II on a State visit to Ireland staring at a pint still makes me cringe.
Surely we have more to offer our visiting dignitaries than an audience with a pint. – Yours, etc,
JOHN HIGGINS,
Ballina,
Co Mayo.
Sir, – Gerry Hickey (Letters, April 11th) exhorts us to refrain from making Joe Biden’s visit “alcohol soaked”, as usual. In the same paper, Fintan O’Toole reminds us of the real “Irish Catholic”, and it’s a lot different from Biden’s experience (“JFK embodied an idea of what Ireland aspired to be, Biden embodies an idea of what we used to be”, Opinion & Analysis, April 11th).
Ireland has given two things to the world: Irish Catholicism and Guinness. One is to our eternal shame and the other is to our eternal pride. I know what I’d celebrate! – Yours, etc,
PAT QUINN,
Inchicore,
Dublin 8.
