Madam, - Although I am aware that I increasingly hold a minority viewpoint in Ireland, I cannot understand the attractions of the game of golf.
The reason I find this so worrying is that I have had the game, in fact, many people's games, explained to me, over and over again at countless social gatherings. Maybe it's just me, and I am intellectually challenged.
Well then again, I am a woman, God help us.
When these golf conversations occur, I generally don't mind. I listen and smile politely. I even refrain from describing the pleasures of my own chosen sport a swimming.
I don't describe in detail how I felt on my fortieth lap of the pool, what stroke I was engaging in, or what techniques I am currently employing to improve my performance. God forbid that I would bore anyone.
What I do mind, however, is that taxpayers' money, my money, is being used to support a major competition in a club which will not allow women members.
I have heard all the official arguments, and I am aware of the unique position of private clubs.
All that aside, what I would like to see placed in the public forum is the underlying reasons why the prospect of women members holds such obvious anxiety for the male members of Portmarnock Golf Club.
What are they really afraid of? Is it that they believe that women will slow up the game too much?
Are they afraid that important subjects like politics and the economy will be replaced by discussions of nail polish and facials on the 19th hole? What is it?
Until the members of Portmarnock have at least the guts and honesty to air their real prejudices in public, then all public monies should be withheld.
And don't worry boys, you won't have females like me who write letters of complaint to The Irish Times wanting to join your club.
Presumably, you will have women with a genuine interest in the game - who can afford to pay your subscription fees.
I'll just stick to the simple pleasures of the swimming pool, where I often share the same swimming lane with members of the opposite sex, who incredibly don't seem to mind me seeing them, in all their shapes and sizes, with half their kit off.
When we finish our swim, we generally nod at each other quietly, and each go our own way. Bliss. -Yours, etc.,
JEANNE BARRETT,
Serpentine Ave,
Dublin 4.