Madam, - Was I the only one who found it odd that an organisation called the "Irish Ladies' Golf Union" and another called the "National Women's Council of Ireland" should criticise a sports club for gender discrimination (The Irish Times, June 11th)? I wonder if Niall Crowley of the Equality Authority has inspected these gender-biased bodies to ascertain whether they practise gender discrimination.
If someone were to start up the Irish Mens' Golf Union or the National Men's Council of Ireland, I feel sure it wouldn't be long before the Equality Authority had them in the courts; but it would seem that discrimination against men goes unnoticed and unremarked.
As so often in Ireland, hypocrisy and double standards undermine credibility. - Yours, etc.,
Dr NORMAN STEWART, Seapark, Malahide, Co Dublin.
Madam, - No golf club that discriminates on gender grounds should be affiliated to the Golfing Union of Ireland. Freedom of association is a two-way street. If Portmarnock is allowed to remain affiliated, that means the Golfing Union of Ireland is acquiescing in a policy of discrimination and the members of every other affiliated golf club in the country are unwittingly drawn into supporting that policy.
If Portmarnock want to exclude women, let them go off and form their own men-only golfing union. As long as they remain affiliated to the GUI, the reputation of the union and every other club affiliated to it remains tarnished. And while the GUI remains silent and does nothing, every other golf club in the country is implicated in this discrimination. - Yours, etc,
DIARMUID BRENNAN, Churchfields, Milltown, Dublin 14.
Madam, - Given Niall Crowley's frustration at women being excluded from the "social and business benefits" which, he claims, flow from membership of Portmarnock Golf Club (Opinion, June 11th), I presume he has similar qualms about the networks that now exist exclusively for women? - Yours, etc,
T. KINDLON, Beechpark Lawn, Castleknock, Dublin 15.