Sir, - I am a current member and volunteer leader with the Irish Girl Guides. I was a Brownie, or a "member of the junior wing of the Girl Guides", as Frank McNally called it (Last Straw, May 26th). I do not consider it a "shadowy organisation". Nor, I feel, should it be linked to "Hitler's Sturmabteilung". The fact that Brownies once wore brown should not be an issue. If colour determined the strength of the organisation, guiding would have probably disappeared a long time ago.
The Irish Girl Guides are celebrating 90 years of guiding in Ireland this year. It is an organisation with around 11,000 members throughout the country, including over 1,000 volunteer adult leaders. Guiding provides an environment where girls from all backgrounds can grow in self-confidence and develop a variety of skills in an unpressurised atmosphere. Through the programmes the girls are encouraged to try out a variety of activities, challenge themselves, develop team work skills and have fun. The Irish Girl Guides is part of a worldwide movement of 10 million girls and young women in 140 countries.
Brownie Guides now wear a blue and yellow uniform and stopped wearing brown in the mid 1970s! - Yours, etc.,
Diane Dixon, Pembroke Cottages, Main Street, Dundrum, Dublin 14.