Sir, - Poor Timothy O'Connor. As I read his letter, I wondered how we could be living in the same country. This American expatriate's experiences since September 11th have been so opposite to his.
The outpouring of sympathy from our many Irish friends has been overwhelming, to the point where we cannot get away from the subject: every social evening out brings friends coming up to us to express their sorrow for what happened in the country of our birth.
We do have differing opinions on how the US government is reacting to the tragedy, but we consider those differences a privilege of free speech, as necessary a part of Irish democracy as it is of American democracy.
In spite of his outpouring of "facts" to support his complaints, I humbly suggest Mr O'Connor considers counselling to deal with the residue of the influence from his childhood when he was "already internalising a vague sense of inferiority due to something called 'Irish ancestry'."
Who knows, the success of that venture might have him cancelling his avowed goal - "to devote myself to drying up every dollar, every tourist, every last outmoded bit of the dream of Ireland" - and instead agreeing with this now-Irish citizen that Ireland is really a pretty nice place to spend the rest of one's life. - Yours, etc.,
Jeanette F. Huber, Kinsale, Co.