Sir, - I was delighted to discover a lovely Millennium Candle on my doorstep the other evening.
On New Year's Eve I will light my candle at 4.15 p.m., as the last light dims from the sky. Five minutes before midnight I will bring my candle out into the garden. I will watch the sky and the stars, the moon and the trees, while I await the sounds of the church bells, the ships' sirens, the cars' horns and distant fireworks.
During these few quiet moments I will think of the millions of people who have lived in this country and throughout the world during the last thousand years and of the millions more, who will live here in the next millennium and the one thereafter. I am glad to be part of the generation bridging the second and third millennia.
Surely, many people throughout Ireland share my sentiments. This candle - delivered free of charge to every household in the State - binds us all together.
In giving one receives but it is also good to receive graciously. The generous in spirit will have already given to those in need. If the begrudgers out there really do have a guilty conscience about accepting a gift, then let them put a fiver in the Vincent de Paul or Simon collection boxes, or do three hours' voluntary service in return, instead of writing snide letters to your paper.
Thanks to the State for the candle - or, if your correspondents would prefer, thanks to all us hard-pressed tax payers. - Yours, etc., Mary McMurrough Murphy,
Whitebeam Road, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14.