Madam, - In the recent UK House of Lords judgment on divorce settlements, one of the judges said Mrs McFarlane was entitled to "compensation for the comparable position which she might have been in had she not compromised her own career" for the sake of the children and her husband (The Irish Times, May 30th).
In this country, prior to the Civil Service (Employment of Married Women) Act 1973, married women were required by the State to compromise their own careers for the sake of menfolk in general. It would seem to me that many of these clever and talented women, now in their 50s and 60s, would have a very good case, as a "principle of universal application", for compensation for the comparable positions which they might have expected. - Yours, etc,
Dr DEIRDRE HASLETT, Nua Research Services, Clonard Drive, Dublin 16.