Sir, - Normally I despise what Kevin Myers writes, but his piece on Aer Lingus (An Irishman's Diary, July 3rd) was hilarious. While he makes light of the recent incidence at Aer Lingus, (An Irishman's Diary, July 3rd) was hilarious. And he does raise some sobering questions: how far will the current climate go in poisoning male-female work relationships and what can be done to stop it?
I am an American who worked in Ireland for several years (thanks to emigrant grandparents who unknowingly bestowed an Irish passport on me). Coming from New York in the mid-1990s, I was first shocked, then relieved, that a joke could be just a joke. Irish women seemed more mature, less sensitive, but still maintaining a line that one couldn't cross (normal state of affairs).
In New York, you can't tell a woman at work that she "looks lovely in that dress" without fearing for your job. While working for a large bank in NY, I was close to a sexual harassment case in which my boss was accused of various verbal nastiness vis-α-vis a female colleague. After many depositions, the crux of the complaint was that he states said he wouldn't sleep with her if she were the last woman on earth. No fondling, no ogling, no unwelcome advances, just a statement that she was sexually unattractive to him (I believe alcohol was involved).
The case took nearly six years, and was settled out of court.
The same climate that struck New York could now prevail in Ireland - no more nights out in the pub, no "co-mingling" (no pun intended), and the establishment of a well-defined but invisible wall between the sexes. Men will protect themselves by staying with the boys, and women will brood about what the hell happened. - Is mise,
Michael Dundon, Winnetka, Illinois, USA.