Sir, - What is one to make of Fintan O'Toole's assertion - or should that be "suggestion"? - that Anna Nolan, an "ex-nun" and "out-of-the-closet-lesbian ... just might be the new model for Irishness" (Opinion, December 27th).
All Irish males would have accepted that their sex makes it impossible for them to measure up to Mr O'Toole's standard, ever. Measuring up might prove somewhat easier for Irish "out-of-the-closet-lesbians", but then how many of them would also want to be classified as "ex-nuns"? As for the rest of the female population of Ireland? Like their male counterparts, they had best forget it. - Yours, etc.,
Austin Flannery, OP, Parnell Square, Dublin 1.