TIM O'HALLORAN,
Sir, - Michael McDowell has a rare oppurtunity to kill two birds with one stone. If the publicans want the right to refuse all Travellers, why not grant them their wish?
This would, of course, contravene the human rights of the Travellers, so the Minister would be forced to deregulate the drinks trade to allow new traveller-friendly pubs to open. The existing publicans could sell their over-priced fare to those who want to drink in huge lounge barns, while everyone else (including travellers) could pay the market price for their drink in the the hundreds of tiny continental-style bars that would spring up.
The PDs keep telling us they are motivated by pro-market ideology, rather than class loyalties. So this is their chance to take on millionaire anti-market publicans, with the same enthusiam they showed against the working class taxi drivers. By upholding the rights of Travellers, they could show they really are modern liberals, and not just old fashioned right-wing class-warriors rebranded to look like something new. It would prove that including "Equality" in the reponsibilities of a PD Minister, was not really a sick joke.
However, while waiting for the PDs to discover their "radical" conscience, I think the Travellers of Mayo might be well-advised to stock up on the take-aways. - Yours etc.,
TIM O'HALLORAN, Ferndale Road, Dublin 11