Sarah Carey writes that “asylums were places of safety that turned into prisons. Turning prisons into asylums is not the solution” (‘Prisons are not for the mentally ill – we desperately need more psychiatric beds’, Irish Independent, December 2).
Sir It was Christmas 2006, and yours truly was at the peak of his powers property editor of the Sunday Independent, columnist, dean of a law school, raconteur, bon vivant and all-round dilettante.
Sir I have witnessed many changes on our little island over the years, most of them very welcome, thus creating a more grown-up society. I’m all for inclusion, as long as its good for society as a whole.
Ours is a country that doesn’t have a national independence day. Ireland got its first leg up the ladder of international respectability in the UN due to its inclusive ethos and sympathy for small nations.