Madam, - There has been much recent debate about whether or not Ireland is a better country than it was, and whether moral standards are under threat.
It may not be so evident to people who have lived here all their lives, but having been away from Ireland for 35 years I can assure people unequivocally that it is an immeasurably better country than when I was growing up 50 to 60 years ago.
Just a few points to support this contention:
Poverty in Ireland in the 1940s and 1950s was ghastly and humiliating. The country was haemorrhaging to death through emigration. Despite this, new churches were being built. Because of the lack of birth control, families of 12 or more were common and very many women were child-bearing drudges. Class prejudice was extreme and there was no upward mobility from the working class. Religious prejudice was endemic. Alcoholism was widespread and many unemployed people were to be seen drunk, and propping up walls.
Ireland was extremely isolated and people travelled mostly in sordid circumstances to England on the mail boat.
I would ask other people who remember the same to stand up and be counted and shout this message from the rooftops.
Having escaped the poverty trap, we can now enjoy travel and the arts, dress properly, live in adequate or better accommodation, hold our heads up and be proud to be Irish and living in the very best country in the world. We can also still be Christians at a personal level, as one of Ireland's greatest strengths is that it has been a Christian country for the past 1,500 years. - Yours, etc,
TOM MOLYNEUX, Ripley Hills, Bray, Co Wicklow.