Sir, - I was disappointed and angry to read Teresa Judge's report in your newspaper on Friday, May 4th, the day after World Press Freedom Day. While her feature documented the difficulties faced by the Travelling community in Donegal, yet again I searched in vain for any mention of the damage inflicted on the settled community by Travellers in this country every year.
There was no mention of the distress and financial hardship faced by individuals and communities following the occupation and wanton vandalism wrought by some Travellers on property both public and private - housing estates, sports centres and even schools. Any local councillor foolhardy enough to express even the mildest concern about this lawlessness is branded a racist redneck and subject to the most vitriolic opprobrium Dublin 4 can muster. As summer approaches towns and villages in my native county wait in genuine fear to see what civil chaos the season will bring.
Disturbingly, it seems as if the rights of Travellers as a distinct ethnic minority must be maintained at all times, even if that means the rights of other citizens to peace and security are trampled into the ground.
This issue is of fundamental importance to the societal fabric of our country and the continued absence of an open debate does no one any favours, reflecting badly on our supposed tolerance for the values and opinions of others.
The consistent failure of your newspaper, and the mainstream Irish media in general, to fully report or put forward an alternative viewpoint on this issue constitutes nothing less than Irish journalism's badge of shame and is an abrogation of the moral duty incumbent on you to report both sides of the story. - Yours, etc.,
Philip Donnelly, Newtown Court, Maynooth, Co Kildare.