Sir, - In an "Irishman's Diary" of November 15, Kevin Myers addressed the issue of noise-induced hearing loss in the Defence Forces in what can best be called a frivolous and derisory manner.
His opening sentence set the tone of the column to follow in terms of his base ignorance of legal and medical matters. That a paper of the standing of The Irish Times should allow Mr Myers prominent space to outline to your readership his abject ignorance of the law of tort and in particular the concept of a duty of care owned by an employer to its employees, his ignorance of the various means of measuring hearing loss and the difficulties in rigging their outcome as suggested by Mr Myers, his obvious contempt and dismissal of decisions arrived at by learned trial judges, appointed under the constitution, very often in the superior courts of this state, beggars belief.
Mr Myers, it could be cynically stated, perhaps might have been damaged in a manner that he was not immediately aware of in the pub-bombing incident in Belfast, alluded to his article. He should be advised that in this regard he can very probably still seek redress in the courts as his action may not be statute-barred as signs and symptoms of this injury may only now be manifesting themselves.
In respect of his slights and cheap jibes on the legal profession I would submit that they can only be viewed as an attack on the very fundamentals of democracy as enshrined in our Constitution, and of which the Defence Forces of this state are the ultimate defender when all else fails.
In conclusion, your correspondent, in my opinion, has lowered the journalistic standards one has come to expect of your paper over a considerable number of years. I trust you will see fit to publish this letter and afford it the same prominence afforded to Mr Myers' article. - Yours, etc.,
Andrew Richardson,
Commandant, LLB, B.L., The Curragh, Co. Kildare.