Sir, - The article by Ms Holmquist (October 25th), concerning the possible move of the National Maternity Hospital is puzzling, and its inclusion in the newspaper is even more amazing. Was the article an attempt at humour? If so it failed. Was the article an attempt at serious journalism? If so it failed. Was it intended as a facile side-swipe at "'southside" (Ms Holmquist's word) women? If so it succeeded.
As a "southside" mother whose children were born in the National Maternity Hospital without epidural anaesthetic or Caesarian section, I found Ms Holmquist's article offensive, glib and quite irrelevant to the facts of the story.
Does her assertion that you would be able to have a baby and get a face-lift or tummy tuck at the same time tell us more about Ms Holmquist's thought processes than the reality of the story, or was the inclusion of the article in The Irish Times an insidious sign of the creeping rot of tabloid journalism?
Ms Holmquist might be interested to know that the only woman of whom I am aware to have undergone the rigours of plastic surgery is Terry Prone, a "northsider"! - Yours, etc.,
Catherine O'Sullivan-Gallagher, Foxrock, Dublin 18.