Sir, - In An Irishman's Diary in your edition of April 10th, Pat McGoldrick wrote: "The citizens of Dublin will, I hope ignore the Orangemen, or, at least, gaze upon them with the curiosity that any of us would feel at the spectacle of a primeval creature dredged from the deep."
Can you imagine the reaction if, instead of talking about Orangemen, Mr McGoldrick had aimed his bile at Jews, Asians, Afro-Caribbeans, or - heaven forbid - the Irish. There would have been uproar. People from the top of O'Connell Street to the bottom of Royal Avenue would have been firing off letters asking The Irish Times why it would print such racist stereotypes.
So why is it OK to write in that fashion about Orangemen? Why are they still perceived to be "legitimate targets"?
I suggest that Mr McGoldrick comes and meets some Orangemen and unionists. He might find that they do not have horns, but are a mixture of the good and bad, the bigoted and not bigoted - much like people the world over. - Yours, etc., John McCrea,
Wilson Crescent, Ballymena, Co Antrim.