Sir, - In 1836 Disraeli wrote to the Times describing the Irish as "wild, reckless, insolent, uncertain and superstitious"; and the historian J.A. Fraude once said that the inhabitants of Ireland "seemed more like tribes of squalid apes than human beings". On Monday night it appeared that these images of the Irish were still maintained, albeit by the Irish themselves. Black Day in Blackrock, by Gerry Stembridge, consolidated these ideas, and added a few more prejudices too. It would appear that we are all, particularly those living outside of Dublin, (with the exception of the onein-a-thousand token hippy) a nation of racist, bigoted, rednecked, violent, leering buffoons. Furthermore, many of us seem to be direct descendants of the Ku Klux Klan and other racist organisations of the deep south (of Munster).
Well, thank you for clearing that all up for us, the the least humorous manner. Perhaps Mr Stembridge should rethink his attitudes on prejudicial stereotyping. It can work many ways. - Yours, etc.,
Cian Hallinan, Belgrave Road, Monkstown, Co Dublin.