Sir, - On March 17th, Bertie Ahern and 15 Government Ministers will attend St Patrick's Day events in places as far away as China, Argentina, South Africa and Australia in an apparent gesture to honour St Patrick.
For the rest of the year, most of these politicians seem to spend their time promoting legislation to curtail and restrict a Christian influence in our laws dealing with schools, marriage and the family.
But on St Patrick's Day, in their rush to appear at public events, these politicians seem to forget that by honouring St Patrick, they are honouring the precious Christian values he taught us - the sacredness of life (no abortion), the sanctity of marriage (no divorce, no mistresses) and the promotion of chastity (no contraception, no perverted sex).
It would be interesting to know what our politicians really believe they are doing when they attend a St Patrick's Day parade. - Yours, etc.,
John O'Halloran, Bantry Road, Dublin 9.