Madam, - I find it incomprehensible that some of the major supermarket chains still do not stock condoms.
This policy is socially irresponsible and flies in the face of the State's efforts to curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. I find it particularly ironic that stores which will not stock a product that can save your life (i.e. condoms) will happily stock products that are proven to damage your health (cigarettes, alcohol). European visitors to our country are constantly amused at this state of affairs.
How can a Western European nation which terms its burgeoning youth "our greatest national resource" allow this situation to persist? This may be the 21st century, but Shaw's words still ring true today. In many ways Ireland remains a "cabbage patch at the back of beyond". - Yours, etc.,
Dr PETER GROARKE, Mount Eagle Rise, Leopardstown Heights, Dublin 18.