Sir, – Further to Kathy Sheridan's "Tarnishing all members of a group with same brush" (Opinion & Analysis, August 24th), I write in support of the ability of a German mayor to state publicly that he does not want a particular group of Irish Travellers to return to his town. He said so publicly and was quoted in the media, including The Irish Times ("Travellers 'caused chaos', says mayor", August 20th). The fact is that a mayor or civic leader in Ireland would never be able to say something similar without howls of protest from politically correct groups and individuals, yet the German mayor has received little criticism. We Irish are expected to tolerate bad behaviour without a whimper lest we cause offence. – Yours, etc,
GARRY BURY,
Dalkey, Co Dublin.