Sir, - Vincent Kenny (June 3rd) complains about certain political parties which are creating divisions in Irish society where none exist". This is an astonishing statement for any Irish person to make, unless of course they are so cocooned from the reality of life that they do not see the divisions surrounding them.
There are and have been numerous books, reports and articles written on the economic and social divisions in Irish society. A recent study by the ESRI spells out clearly that one third of our population still live below the poverty line - many of these being children.
This poverty affects many aspects of people's lives. In housing there is ghettoisation leading to isolation and marginalisation. In health care we have divisions between the public and private patients and all that this entails regarding waiting limps for operations, etc. In education we have deep seated inequalities regarding access to third level education. In come levels differ sharply between the wealthy and poor and we see a small minority owning the majority of this country's wealth.
Ireland may be in geographic terms a united whole but economically and socially it is shattered into many sections. Yours, etc., North Strand, Dublin 3.