Having your say is healthy in a democracy

Sir, – Sean O’Byrne (Letters, July 4th) is doubtless correct in that the views of Irish Times columnists and letter-writers pertaining to the current Joe Biden “dilemma” matter little and go unheard as far as the US president and his advisers are concerned. However, in contemporary political circumstances globally, and amid the lethal dangers threatening democracy, we should be thankful that The Irish Times and similarly respected newspapers give both journalists but especially letter-writers the privilege of freely expressing their views on any variety of subjects, which is a basic tenet of democracy.

The idiom “Long may it last” was never more pertinent. – Yours, etc,

MICHAEL GANNON,

Kilkenny