Madam, - I feel it is an irony of Joycean proportions that the Bloomsday centenary has coincided with the Government's decision to propose a revision of the terms of Irish citizenship.
In chapter nine of Ulysses, Leopold Bloom is asked by the chauvinist citizens of his local tavern what nation he belongs to. Bloom answers: "Ireland, I was born here." The citizens, however, are not convinced, and continue to hurl anti-Semitic insults.
It seems, 100 years on, that Joyce's cynicism was justified. - Yours etc.,
AIDAN TYNAN,
Silversprings Lawn,
Tivoli,
Cork.
