Sir, – Are we Irish so bereft of dignity that we have to humiliate ourselves by clamouring to establish an Irish connection to sundry celebrities who visit the country, the latest being Tom Cruise?
I am embarrassed at the silliness of awarding him a certificate of Irishness. Have we no pride in ourselves?
I was surprised and disappointed to see The Irish Times jumping on that bandwagon with its prominent Front page picture (April 4th). – Yours, etc,
JOHN SHEEDY,
Pine Valley Park,
Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.
Sir, – Here we go again. Yet another famous person is Irish. Join the list, Tom Cruise. In her time Lady Di, was apparently related to famous people in Irish history and just about every famous person who graces our shores is related to Brian Boru, Strongbow, Red Hugh O Neill, et al.
Our sycophantic desire to crawl to the famous to prove how worthwhile being Irish is, makes me turn my head with shame. Paddywhackery is alive and well.
It is a pity though, that we don’t give citizenship to children born in Ireland. The children of refugees are not hailed as Irish, even when they are born here. Nor are they given a crack at being citizens until they are 18. But some famous US citizen, well he will do. – Yours, etc,
GEARÓID Ó LOINGSIGH,
Bogotá, Colombia,
South America.