Blaming racism in US for Woods’s problems a fantasy from the 1960s

ON A visit to my Irish relatives, I picked up your paper to get a deeper sense of today’s Irish people. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to get past Eamonn Sweeney’s deeply offensive views of America (September 24).

In an article on Tiger Woods’s comeback, he strangely and unnecessarily blamed racism as a cause for Tiger’s problems.

Sadly, this was consistent with my finding that many Irish now mischaracterise Americans in order to project some sense of virtue superiority that nourishes themselves.

The phrase “the country club Republicans who run golf” places Mr Sweeney’s fantasy in a 1960s from which America has long moved past. Perhaps that is why he slandered us without any supporting facts.

It is not accurate and putting it in print will not make it so.

The facts are Americans loved Tiger but he embarrassed himself like no other pro golfer of his calibre.

We embrace and will continue to embrace his comeback regardless of whether we are “country club Republicans” or factory workers.

And we will expect him to take personal responsibility for his success and failures.

That’s what he did and he went to a sex addiction and drug and alcohol programme to better himself.

Your newspaper’s other articles were filled with the cries of Irish people looking for more from your Government. Are the Irish a people who no longer take personal responsibility? Tom O’Keefe

Address with Editor