Sir, – In "Democracy deficit and lack of opposition is dangerous" (Opinion & Analysis, November 10th), Breda O'Brien writes that, "we now live in an Ireland that is so rigid, so narrow, that any deviation from official dogma cannot be tolerated". I came to live in Ireland in 1992. At the time, homosexuality was still considered a crime, divorce was not allowed and the Gloucester Street laundry (the last of the Magdalene laundries to shut its doors) was still operating. The contempt displayed by socially conservative Catholics and other religious zealots for many Irish people, for far too many decades, was shocking.
“Tolerance” is definitely a word we can proudly start using in Ireland. – Yours, etc,
STEPHANIE
NOUAILHETAS,
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Dundrum, Dublin 14.