A chara, - Many thanks to John Waters for having the guts to assert his Irish identity (Opinion, February 10th) in this age of encroaching European blandness. Like him, I believe that the notion that being interested in, or proud of, one's own culture is somehow "racist" is sheer lunacy.
But it's always something with the Irish, isn't it? We've had to deal with the seoininism of British colonisation for centuries now. Are we really going to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire of EU hegemony in a vain quest to prove our "self-confidence"?
The same day's edition also featured an article on the introduction of the euro. Isn't anyone bothered that we'll be giving up that particular Irish sensibility that sees fit to put animals like the horse, the salmon, and the bull on the country's coins in exchange for utterly characterless maps of Europe? If this is what Europeanism is all about, I'd rather stay Irish. As the French used to say, vive la difference. - Is mise,
From Micheal O Beigleinn
Bothar na Toirbhirte, Gaillimh.