Sir, – Now that he has more time on his hands, Donald Trump should consider writing a sequel to The Art of the Deal. The Art of the Sulk has a nice ring to it. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN AHERN,
Clonsilla,
Dublin 15.
Sir, – It has now been more than 48 hours since the president of the United States called someone an offensive name. A brave new world indeed. – Yours, etc,
RICHARD BANNISTER,
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – Watching with joy and hope the low-key inauguration of Joe Biden, I was reminded of the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson as third president of the US.
As recounted by Alistair Cooke in Letters from America, Jefferson, no lover of pomp and ceremony,“got on his horse, rode up to the Capitol, tethered his nag, went inside, made his speech – almost inaudibly – went out, mounted his horse and rode back to his boarding house, where finding the places at the head of the dinner table taken, he sat down below the salt”. Yours, etc,
TIM McCARTHY,
Blackrock,
Cork.
Sir, – As research into President Biden’s Irish ancestry continues, he may yet prove to have links to as many counties as the late Charles Haughey did. – Yours, etc,
BOB HYLAND,
Glenageary,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – US vice-president Kamala Harris in her 2019 book The Truths We Hold asks that her name be pronounced “comma-la”, like the punctuation mark. Is it too much to ask that broadcasters and some of their Irish-American contributors make a better effort at pronouncing her name? Her name, she says, means “lotus flower”, which is a symbol of significance in Indian culture. A lotus grows underwater, its flowers rising above the surface while its roots are planted firmly in the river bottom. I think it is fair to say that America has a woman of some substance in the White House. We wish her well. – Yours, etc,
TOM McELLIGOTT,
Tournageehy,
Listowel,
Co Kerry.