Madam, - It seems it is not enough that Kevin Myers makes a full and apparently sincere apology for neglecting to engage his brain (or his heart) before composing his now infamous column. It is not enough that his character has been trashed in the media with barely disguised glee by what, in any other circumstances, might be described as a braying lynch mob. It is not enough that the same mob demand his resignation from this paper. No, he must be forced, metaphorically or literally, to prostrate himself before his accusers, a scapegoat for their collective "hurt".
But I would ask, how much is this actually to do with Myers' crude phraseology. Or could a cynical agenda be in progress, namely: "Many people simply can't stand him and wish that he would vanish off the face of the earth (or at least from the masthead of An Irishman's Diary). A justifiable opportunity to put the boot in was apparently too good to pass up. No doubt some of those who have attacked him would be among the first to espouse "forgiveness" for all sorts of transgressions - real or imagined.
But it appears that when it comes to the Kevin Myers of this world, there is only so much of that virtue to go around. - Yours, etc.,
KEVIN WHELAN,
Salthill,
Galway.
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Madam, - What's the difference between "An Irishman's Diary" and O'Connell Street? One should have been spiked and wasn't; the other shouldn't and was! - Yours, etc.,
OLIVER McGRANE,
Marley Avenue,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
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Madam, - The Myers furore recalls a heated scene from the 1960s western The Professionals. The heavy viciously snarls "You bastard!" at the Lee Marvin character. Marvin replies in steely tones. "In my case an accident of birth. You're a self-made man". - Yours, etc.,
ADRIAN BOURKE,
Westfield Park,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
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Madam, - I used to be a daily subscriber to The Irish Times.
I cannot, and will not, subscribe to a newspaper that refers to my daughter as a "mother of a bastard" or to my five-year-old grandson as a "bastard". I will also miss my daily crossword. - Yours, etc.,
PATRICK J. CLANCY,
Quarry Road,
Youghal,
Co Cork.
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Madam, - In Kevin Myers you have a great journalist. You should protect and cherish him. - Yours, etc.,
RUTH DUDLEY EDWARDS
London.