Sir, – I’m unclear if the current expressed dissatisfaction regarding the Rose of Tralee is directed at the event itself or that the pageant makes for good TV. Regarding the TV aspect, I do dodge watching it, finding it cringey in parts. It offends me not a bit and I feel no compulsion to launch a crusade against it – pressing the off-switch beats indignant posturing. Luckily I can take my grandkids to wave at the actual Roses and enjoy all the smiling faces – harmless stuff, in my view. The same grandkids enjoy the associated carnival amusements, including the “bumpers”. Our neighbouring country refers to the latter as “dodgems”.
Ireland need not be an anodyne, tepid, conforming clone of what cultural arbiters deem acceptable.– Yours, etc,
GERRY CHRISTIE,
Tralee,
An Irish businessman in Singapore: ‘You’ll get a year in jail if you are in a drunken brawl, so people don’t step out of line’
Protestants in Ireland: ‘We’ve gone after the young generations. We’ve listened and changed how we do things’
Is this the final chapter for Books at One as Dublin and Cork shops close?
In Dallas, X marks the mundane spot that became an inflection point of US history
Co Kerry.