Madam, - I refer to the Irishman's Diary by Kevin Myers in your edition of February 13th.
Much as I respect many journalists in The Irish Times for the quality of their writing, including Mr Myers on occasion, it does not serve the public interest to mislead readers. Friday's column is a case in point. While I accept that balanced editorial policy means you must allow space for Mr Myers's particular brand of right-wing analysis, it is a mistake to let him publish false information as if it were fact.
1. Mr Myers would have us believe that "we have created a legal minority without defining it, called Traveller". In fact, there is a definition of Traveller contained in the 1995 Task Force Report. All of the state agencies who deal with the public recognise this definition. Nor did it take the Task Force to recognise Traveller identity. For centuries, individuals and institutions recognised Travellers as a separate group in Irish society.
2. He goes on to say: "Every local authority in the land is legally obliged to supply homes and parking bays" for Travellers. This is rich, coming from a journalist in a newspaper which has given such prominent coverage to the failure of most local authorities to build homes and parking bays. If, as Mr Myers claims, each local authority is "legally obliged" to build homes, why is there no legislative sanction against the defaulting local authority? - Yours, etc.,
DAVID McCARTHY, Outreach Worker, Travelleler Visibility Group, The Glen, Cork.