Sir, - I see that the Irish punters have been cleaned out at Cheltenham once again. Why do I get the feeling that John Bull is pulling a fast one?
The feckless Irish punters who cross the Irish Sea like lemmings every year to be herded into Cheltenham like cattle have been conned into spending at least £100 million on warm beer, curled-up "hang" sandwiches and crowded lodgings, and have been led like lambs to the bookies' slaughterhouse for over £20 million.
Of course the English claim that this is the "greatest hunt racing festival in the world" (have they never been to Punchestown?) and tell us that the Irish are "wonderful" and such "great characters", giving the festival "colour" and providing "the craic". The poor punters actually believe this plam as trotted out every year by the English press. Even the jingoistic Sun and the xenophobic Telegraph cease their anti-Irish rantings for a few days and instead heap flattery on the gullible Irish to get them to come over and spend a fortune in the UK.
And we thought we had a monopoly on blarney! - Yours, etc., Barry McHugh,
Dundrum, Dublin 14.