Madam, - In his usual calm, rational, logical manner, Fintan O'Toole has spelled out the full argument regarding the Garda/turban debacle ("The choice is simple: all or nothing", Opinion, August 28th). His column should be considered the last word on the subject.
It also gave me insight into an experience several years ago when I was hospitalised for surgery and transferred from one Cork hospital to another (CUH to St Mary's). At the second hospital a staff member reviewed my personal details of record, all accurate, until she read: "Religion: Catholic." I interrupted, saying: "That should read 'None'."
"Whenever a patient says 'None', they always write in 'Catholic'," she said, but she couldn't explain why. At the time I thought it was so that nurses could ask all patients if they wanted to receive Holy Communion, but after reading this column I suspect hospitals might possibly benefit in many ways by increasing their "Catholic" patient statistics. - Yours, etc,
JEANETTE F. HUBER, Scilly, Kinsale, Co Cork.
Madam, - In an article on March 13th last, Fintan O'Toole castigated the Taoiseach for referring to aggressive secularists who wished to "confine [ religion], at best, to the purely private and personal, without rights or a role within the public domain.
"Such illiberal voices would diminish our democracy," Mr Ahern said. "They would deny a crucial dimension of the dignity of every person and their rights to live out their spiritual code within a framework of lawful practice, which is respectful of the dignity and rights of all citizens."
Mr O'Toole contended that no such aggressive secularists in fact existed. Now, however, he argues that we we should "just cop on to ourselves and start creating a public realm in which all religions are respected because none is invoked" (Opinion, August 28th). In other words, confine religion to a purely private and personal role.
So it would appear that there is at least one aggressive secularist in existence and that the Taoiseach was not wrong after all. Considering that in his March article Mr O'Toole accused the Taoiseach of "a typical exercise in empty rhetoric" and of engaging in a "linguistic sleight of hand", might he not now consider apologising to the Taoiseach? - Yours, etc,
SEAMUS MULCONRY, Kings Avenue, Ballybough, Dublin 3.