Fit to print (and print)?

Sir, – Reflecting on the sorry saga of the Ó Snodaigh cartridge controversy, it seems that no matter how absurd or ridiculous…

Sir, – Reflecting on the sorry saga of the Ó Snodaigh cartridge controversy, it seems that no matter how absurd or ridiculous the shenanigans our dysfunctional political system disgorges, there will always be an army of subtle wit merchants out there who will assail the Letters page with barbed and incisive put-downs.

How encouraging to see that The Irish Times, the organ (if I may be so indelicate) of Myles no less, will always provide a ready platform. Indeed, a sense of humour has always been a very useful weapon in the Irish person’s arsenal. The ability to laugh at ourselves is like a defence mechanism that helps us endure when times are hard. Well done to your correspondents for cheering us all up. Whenever political debacles arise, instead of immediately exploding in paroxysms of boiling wrath, we should just agree, “You have to laugh”. As Elvis Costello, a master lyricist with lacing wit (and Irish heritage), sang many years ago: “I used to be disgusted, but now I try to be amused”. – Yours, etc,

JASON O’DONNELL,

St Michael’s Avenue, Tipperary.

Sir, – As someone who works in IT, I wish to ask if someone in the Oireachtas IT department could log in to Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh printer and check the log files and see the number of times his printer has had toner cartridges replaced? – Yours, etc,

BRIAN CLANCY,

Frances Street,

Vancouver, Canada.