Taoiseach And His Partner

Sir, - The recent appearances at public functions of the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, in the company of his partner, have evoked critical…

Sir, - The recent appearances at public functions of the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, in the company of his partner, have evoked critical and vinegary censure from both the leader-writer of the Church of Ireland Gazette and Mr Rory O'Hanlon. One gathers from the tone and content of their respective writings that the institution of marriage - nay, the very bedrock of society itself - is at risk because of such happenings.

It is all very depressing.

We are shortly to celebrate (however imprecisely) the second millennium of the birth of the founder of the religion to which both these critics adhere. Now, I have been led to believe that the mother of this very founder spent all of her gentle life in loving cohabitation with a man who was not her husband. I strongly suspect that this, too, drew a similar pietistic and sententious disapproval from contemporary mean-spirited and self-appointed guardians of public morality.

Somewhat confusingly, Mr O'Hanlon draws quotations regarding this class of persons in his recent correspondence. He strikes a surely unintentional resonance in so doing. I feel.

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The Scribes and Pharisees haven't gone away, you know. - David Grant,

Mount Pleasant, Waterford.