Madam, – Anthony McEvoy suggested (May 24th) there should be a public holiday to honour Garret FitzGerald. While a holiday may not be economically viable, I agree with the sentiment. Could one of the main thoroughfares in Dublin not be renamed to honour him? Grafton Street, named after a landowner son of Charles II, would seem an obvious choice for Garret FitzGerald Street. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I feel certain that someone who contributed as much to public debate as Garret FitzGerald would have defended the right of Liam Power to write as he did (May 23rd). As someone who was widely praised for his generosity in public life and his belief in politics, I suspect Dr FitzGerald would have been disappointed, rather than annoyed, by the cynical content and tone of this letter. Instead of taking his bait, I prefer to add to Mr Power’s misery by reminding him, that for the hundreds of thousands of people who mourn Dr FitzGerald’s passing, the words of another former leader of Fine Gael must seem particularly apt just now: “Garret is not just a great man, he is also a good man.” – Yours, etc,
Madam, – As a student of the late Dr FitzGerald’s in the mid- 1960s, I was sorry to hear of his passing.
He personified much of what is able and decent in Irish life.
I am unable to say if he was a reader of the Bible. No doubt he will now be able to dwell at length on The Book of Numbers and chapter seven of Revelation which deals with the 144,000.
I’m sure the number has grown since those apocalyptic times and that he is now included. – Yours, etc,