Madam, - Jim O'Hanrahan writes (July 30th) that "we who voted Yes are not and never have been racist".
It appears, however, that people who peddle "histrionic, nonsensical invective" against non-whites seem to take a different view.
Like it or not, Mr O'Hanrahan and other Yes voters have received the glowing approval of those who are, and always have been, racist. - Yours, etc.,
PATRICK SHINE,
Cathedral Road,
Cork.
Madam, - After the citizenship referendum, some journalists had the idea of contacting Eugene Terreblanche and David Duke to explain the new amendment to them and ask whether they thought it was a good thing. Most obligingly, they said yes.
Predictably, this endorsement was widely publicised and has been seized on by the more impressionable No voters as evidence that the amendment is a racist measure.
So it seems we have created a fresh approach to political debate. Instead of arguing an issue on its merits, you can simply trawl the ranks of your opponents until you find a few whom you can hold up as being suitably discreditable, and your point will be proved.
Unfortunately, this method would lose its validity if extremists were revealed to support the No side of the argument as well as the Yes side. If someone were to get Osama bin Laden to issue a statement criticising the amendment, how would the poor confused electorate decide who was right or wrong? - Yours, etc.,
IAN ROWELL,
St Columbanus Road,
Windy Arbour,
Dublin 14.