Sir, - I don't mind being used to trigger her column (Opinion, January 31st) - but I never "attempted" to accuse Maire Geoghegan Quinn, who I was sorry to see leave the Dail, of racism. On the Questions and Answers programme referred to, I drew attention to the fact that at the beginning of the 1990s there were 135,000 young Irish illegally in the US and regretted "the manner in which" the former Minister set out the distinction between refugees and illegal immigrants.
The proposition that Ms Geoghegan Quinn should happily feel free to weigh in with her partisan commentary whenever the mood takes her but those of who have not yet decided to retreat from the public glare ought not to reply in kind is an odd one. - Yours, etc.,
From Pat Rabbitte TD
Dail Eireann,
Dublin 2.