PETER G. MILLER,
Sir, - B.J. Mc Ateer of Raheen, Limerick (August 7th) suggests that "there is something wrong" with Finian McGrath, TD for "having a go at Roy Keane", before overtly celebrating the fact that he himself was "one of the 11,000 who cheered for Roy Keane in Tolka Park on July 20th and would do so again." Mr Mc Ateer's response resonates most acutely with Sigmund Freud's postulations upon the effects of groups, or mobs, upon intellectual capacity.
In Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, Freud states that "an individual in a group is subjected through its influence to what is often a profound alteration in his mental activity. His liability to affect becomes extraordinarily intensified, while his intellectual ability is markedly reduced."
Futhermore, in response to the dull assertion that Roy Keane is "Ireland's greatest ever footballer", I would suggest that, the recent World Cup qualification campaign apart, Keane has been largely mediocre in the Irish jersey.
I shall mention three names: Brady, Whelan, McGrath. - Yours, etc.,
PETER G. MILLER,
Woodfarm Avenue,
Palmerstown,
Dublin 20.