Madam, - Perhaps the annual mass exodus of our stressed-out ministers and their officials could best be described as "The St Patrick's Day Charade".
And now that the Celtic Tiger has gone into a kind of economic torpor, maybe we should place a moratorium on such extravagant behaviour, (especially that ritual presentation of the bowl of shamrock to the president of the US).
Such an austere course of action might convince our profligate citizenry that we are no longer living in clover.
Some social commentators would contend - with a fair degree of justification - that we never were. - Yours, etc,
PAUL DELANEY, Beacon Hill, Dalkey, Co Dublin.
Madam, - In response to George Stacpoole and Vincent J. Lavery (March 21st), perhaps the Taoiseach should have presented President Bush with a cracked bowl full of empty promises and unanswered questions. - Yours, etc,
PATRICK O'BYRNE, Shandon Crescent, Dublin 7.