JAMES BENIGNUS HARRIS,
Sir, - When I opened pages 4 and 5 of The Ticket in your edition of July 11th, enigmatically headlined "Seeing is Believing", I thought I had inadvertently strayed into the lower reaches of the tabloids or that someone had inserted this into The Irish Times. Like the man in the Bible who had cockle or tares sown among his wheat I thought, "An enemy hath done this."
But no. I found that, sadly, I was mistaken. Surely, Sir, you can find something better for your talented writers to do than purvey this type of material.
The Irish Times has the reputation of being a great newspaper. I have read it over a half-century and more and have spent some 30 years working in the newspaper business. My views are fairly liberal, I think, but sometimes one has to draw a line. Whatever readership might be gained by publishing such material will be more than offset by the vast number of your readers who will find it offensive, and walk away.
I can imagine what might have been the comments of some of your renowned predecessors in the Editor's chair. They would not have been amused, I think.
Corruptio optimi pessima are words we should, all of us, heed. - Yours, etc.,
JAMES BENIGNUS HARRIS, London, SE1.