Sir, - Poor Kevin Myers! His Irishman's Diary of October 30th railed against the absurdities of Irish life. But if he thinks that these problems are unique to Ireland, then he ought to get out more.
Mr Myers says that the licensing laws in Ireland are the most absurd in the EU. Well, Kevin, take a good look around you. In Sweden, alcohol may be sold only in state-owned shops (in flagrant disregard of EU competition laws). Only cash is accepted so that credit-card-wielding alcoholics are protected from themselves. Better still, the Systembolaget (as the off-licence is called) is open only during working hours, Monday to Friday. Ostensibly, this is discourage people from over-indulging at the weekend, but since the only people who are free during the week are full-time alcoholics and the homeless, this is not a very successful strategy.
And is Ireland's attitude to prostitution much worse than that of any other European country? Take the Netherlands, for example. The grotesque spectacle of Amsterdam's red-light district doesn't offer much hope: hordes of junkies, or women from countries such as the Philippines and Thailand, plying their services while their sinister minders hover in the background. Hardly empowerment, hardly girl power.
Of course Irish laws on drinking and brothels are far from perfect. But to suggest that they are uniquely perverse, or that the solutions are simple (if it wasn't for the bumbling politicians) suggests that Kevin ought to grab his passport and see the world beyond D'Olier Street. - Yours, etc.,
John Smyth,
Blekholmstorget 22,
Stockholm,
Sweden.