Sir, - As a retired secondary teacher, and one who was active in the ASTI for many years, I would like to draw attention once more to the Catch-22 situation in which nurses, teachers and other public servants find themselves. When times were bad they were asked to tighten their belts so that times might get better and the "country" (ambiguous and misleading abstraction) would be in a position to, as we say, "look after" them.
When the country becomes tigerishly prosperous, however, they are told to tighten their belts in case they find themselves back where they were when the economy was more a lamb than a tiger burning bright.
By the way, can the Mary Harney who is now adopting such a "not-an-inch" attitude to the nurses' appeals for more money be the same Mary Harney who, when questioned on television a couple of years ago about TDs' demands for a pay rise replied tartly: "If you pay peanuts you get monkeys".
While the nurses may not turn into monkeys overnight, Mary Harney and others should know that when dedication and enthusiasm are turned off, they cannot be turned on again, for any money. - Yours, etc.,
Sean Byrne, Rosslare Strand, Co Wexford.