Madam, - As a tribute to the Taoiseach, who by his own admission will not lead the Government into the next general election, I think we should establish our own order of merit.
As is the case with our nearest European neighbour, this honour
would entitle a recipient to append the letters OBE to his or her
name. However, in this instance the initials would stand for "Order
of the Beneficent Excavation" - so much more sophisticated than "de
Medal o' de Dig-out", don't you think ? - Yours, etc,
TOM MAHER,
Grange Heights,
Waterford.