A chara, – Like Ethna Viney (March 18th) I have enjoyed Miriam Lord’s columns, especially when she writes light-hearted colour reports of serious events.
Unlike Paul Murphy (March 21st) I mistook her attempts at humour, when writing about Enda Kenny, for a brand of sniping brilliantly described by Alexander Pope in 1734: “Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer; Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike, Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike.” (I voted for the United Left Alliance in the recent general election). – Is mise,