Sir, – Jennifer O'Connell writes that "we" are in danger of dismissing people with "unpalatable views" as "backward, racist yokels" ("Discontented rural Ireland fertile ground for populism", Opinion & Analysis, September 25th).
Unfortunately, in the nine previous paragraphs she sails perilously close to doing just that herself.
The media is part of the reason people outside the liberal-left’s “no borders, all cultures are equal but Christianity is awful” bubble believe that they, and their opinions, are now treated with barely concealed contempt by their self-appointed betters.
Your columnist is naive if she thinks it is only in rural Ireland that populism might have a future.
The West’s misguided monetary policies have disproportionately benefited the rich, reduced the value of workers’ savings and boosted indebtedness and inequality. In his new book China, Trade and Power, the economist Stewart Paterson asks: “What good is a cheap washing machine if one cannot afford a home to put it in?” Mr Paterson could be writing about Dublin or any of our big cities. – Yours, etc,
KARL MARTIN,
Bayside,
Dublin 13.