Sir, – As a widower and a single parent who has raised a child alone from an early age, I work in the home and in the workplace to meet my responsibilities as a citizen and a parent. It is quite frankly insulting to read articles like Orla O'Connor's of the National Women's Council of Ireland, which states that "the unequal involvement of men and women in care and domestic activities is a persistent challenge" ("State must ensure greater equality between men and women", Opinion & Analysis, January 7th).
It is also a challenge to get Ms O’Connor and those of her frame of mind to see that they should be supporting equality for all parents and citizens and not just women. I read her article asking for support for a single-sex female organisation while I read on the same page requests for the Government to boycott single-sex male organisations.
Either we treat people equally or we do not. “Equality for women” should not be at the cost of discrimination against men, who live on average five years less than women, are the majority of suicides, of the homeless, of victims of assaults, of the prison population, and then there is how fathers are treated in family court.
Perhaps Ms O’Connor might consider some of these real equality challenges in society before she considers housework. – Yours, etc,
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ANDREW DOYLE,
Bandon,
Co Cork.