Sir, - "It was a public statement which she felt she had to make." I have read this sentence - and the paragraph preceding it - from the Thursday Interview with Gemma Hussey (The Irish Times, February 4th) and am unable to make sense of either. Mrs Hussey was the first woman Minister of Education - and I quote - "in an area that the Church had always had control over - and here I was, an avowed liberal pluralist and non-practising, lapsed Catholic - I was well aware ... [etc, etc]."Ms Battersby tells us that Mrs Hussey made a point of not receiving Holy Communion at a public occasion - at Mass, obviously - for the opening of the new school year. This was the statement "which she felt she had to make".One wonders why Mrs Hussey attended Mass in the first place! Staying away would surely have "made a statement". I am a few years older than Mrs Hussey and could be described as a typical Irish cradle Catholic, by upbringing and education. She ought to know, as I do, that one doesn't make a statement by receiving, or not receiving, Holy Communion. It is essentially a private decision. I think Mrs Hussey was a little too "well aware" of herself and of her sad condition as mentioned in my first paragraph. She overrates her importance. Ministers come and go and get forgotten. - Yours, etc.,Sheila Griffin, Blennerville, Tralee, Co Kerry.