Madam, - Once again Fintan O'Toole (Opinion, May 24th) hits the nail firmly on the head in exposing the hypocrisy of Bertie Ahern and his government in allowing a grubby racist comment to go unchallenged.
The Taoiseach should hang his head in shame and insist on Mr Lenihan's resignation. But then, I forgot, Irish ministers don't have to resign, just British ones. - Yours, etc,
JOHN O'CONNOR, Moira, Co Down.
A Chara, - I couldn't agree more with Fintan O' Toole. I have lived in three different countries in the past few years and I have yet to encounter a more hypocritical society than our own. It's no bother to us to criticise Bush, Blair or anyone else unfortunate enough to cross our radar, but when Conor Lenihan opens his mouth to make such an outrageous remark we simply tut-tut half-heartedly and quickly brush the whole thing under the carpet.
The best thing that can be said for Mr Lenihan is that he is a buffoon; the worst is that he is ignorant and racist. In either case it is patently obvious that he is not fit for public office, but we Irish are happy to let him get on with it. Sure as long as it wasn't us he insulted, why would we be bothered? - Yours, etc,
PAUL GORDON, Galgate, Lancaster, England.