Joining ranks of party to which we all truly belong

SO A decent and principled man, Maurice McCabe, has decided that having done the State some real service he has no option but to take retirement. Meanwhile, a certain other high-profile figure, having spoken of the possibility of retirement (not the early kind), has felt under no such obligation and is back in situ.

I was born in the North, but have lived in this jurisdiction for a considerable length of time. There have been times when I have toyed with the idea of surrendering my Irish passport for a British one. But having for over 50 years paid my share of PAYE tax, have now reached the age where I am entitled to a free Irish passport. As far as I know the alternative, a British passport, would be quite expensive. So why surrender a freebie? The truth is that, as I am at this point obliged to recognise, I am indeed authentically Irish, and a member of that largest, if sometimes unacknowledged, political grouping in this country, to which many politicians of all official parties truly belong: mé féin. Brian Cosgrove Cornelscourt, Dublin 18