Madam, - In Paul Howard's regular "Ross O'Carroll-Kelly" column (Nov 24th), the ex-wife of Howard's satirical character, Ross, finds a lump on her chest. They both proceed, in a nanosecond almost, to the "The Beacon", the anxiety palpable, and it turns out the ". . .small, hard. . . round. . ." lump is a security tag left on her dress.
Both Mr Howard and The Irish Timesmust have had their heads stuck in the ground, with earplugs, the last couple of months not to realise that this trivialisation of what it's like to find a lump would be very upsetting to many. What's even more surprising is why Mr Howard chose to write such a piece at this time, and The Irish Timeschose to print it on the very day 60 or so women sat silent for rechecks in the Midlands. The latter being a story The Irish Timeshas covered superbly, including that day. Imagine reading that while waiting for your name to be called? Not exactly funny.
- Yours, etc,
CAMILLE CONDON, Douglas, Cork.