Sir, - I am an American citizen living and working in Dublin. I do not own a television, a fact that has caused great scepticism and amusement among friends and colleagues.
I never imagined it would take a day like September 11th before I would hear people say, "Be glad you don't have a television", or, "I wish I didn't have a television."
I sincerely hope that, in honour of those lost and those who have lost, people in Ireland were able to observe the national day of mourning without being plagued by the horrific images played over and over to the television-watching world. We all have these scenes etched deep into our memories; now is the time to look beyond them, and find ways of seeing the goodness and beauty that makes all human life bigger and stronger than the cruelty that has stunned America and the whole world. - Yours, etc.,
Summer Meline, Grosvenor Square, Dublin 6.