... Madam - In response to Mrs Mary McDermott (July 23rd): just because someone is part of a minority does not mean that either they or their opinions are insignificant. I hope for all our sakes Mrs McDermott does not apply the same logic to the immediate concerns of other minorities. A lesson in tolerance is much needed here. One also wonders why Mrs McDermott is so incensed about lesbians and gays. Surely if they are are as "insignificant" as she claims, they will pose no threat to her retrograde notion of the "traditional family" - whatever that is. Mrs McDermott also insists that presumedly she and others like her, the so-called "majority of the population", will have to foot the bill if civil partnerships are introduced.
This, she fears, will be whether "they agree or not". Her ridiculous claim that "this is dictatorship" is worrying for its ignorance, not to mention its irony. Did it occur to Mrs McDermott that even now lesbians and gays are supporting her and others like her, even if they do not have the same rights? - Yours, etc.,
NOREEN GIFFNEY,
Navan Road,
Dublin 7.
Madam, - As a young gay man in my early twenties, I take huge offence at the fact that Mrs McDermott termed gay people an "insignificant minority".
Are all minorities insignificant and if so does this justify the oppression of minorities throughout the ages?
Furthermore, she stated that the heterosexual "majority" of Ireland will be left to foot an increase in taxes. Am I to believe that because I am gay I do not contribute just as much in terms of tax? If this is so, maybe Mr McCreevy should close this loop-hole before he departs for Brussels! - Yours, etc.,
PAUL O'BRIEN
Kilrush
Co. Clare.
Madam, - Would Ms McDermott perhaps consider that bemoaning the increased taxation that Fine Gael's proposal on same sex unions will bring about and then dismissing those it will affect as only an "insignificant minority" is just the slightest bit illogical? - Yours, etc.
CLAIRE HENNESSY,
Templeogue,
Dublin 16.