Madam, - Congratulations on your recent coverage of the French referendum on the European Constitution.
Lara Marlowe's report of May 4th was particularly instructive as she drew attention to Jacques Chirac's statement that the proposed Constitution would increase France's EU voting power by 50 per cent and that France and Germany's combined power would be increased from 18 per cent to 30 per cent.
President Chirac could have gone on to explain that the voting strength of the top six countries would rise from 53 per cent to over 74 per cent, and that of the remaining 19 countries would drop from 47 per cent to just 25 per cent.
The requirement for larger countries to look for support from some of the smaller countries does not alter this fundamental shift in power proposed by the Constitution. Chirac has every right to be pleased. - Yours, etc,
DICK HUMPHREYS, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin.