How Long Must This Madness Continue?

I was so infuriated by the issues I was yapping about in the entry “Allied Irish Brogue” that I sat down and actually wrote an email to that bastion of British society, the Daily Mail. Which is known for sensationalist, ultra right-wing headlines like the one above over something like the height of Britney Spears’ skirt or something.

To: letters@dailymail.co.uk

Subject: Irish television listings and the euro

Dear Sir/Madam,

Exactly what am I to take from your insistence on listing three of Ireland’s four television channels under the heading “Regional Variations”? I always thought a regional variation in the context of a British newspaper would be something like BBC Wales or UTV, both channels specific to UK regions. Ireland (and by this I mean the Republic of Ireland) has many social, cultural and economic links with the UK but it is not a region of the UK as you seem to be suggesting.

And while I’m in a nit-picking mood, why do you say the price of your newspaper in Ireland is “€0.75” and yet before the introduction of the euro it was “60p”? You never said “£0.60” before. Why not say “75c”? Think of it as practice…..

Yours sincerely,

Joseph L

Amazingly, I got a reply!!! From a machine!!!

From: andy.simpson@dailymail.co.uk

Re: Irish television listings and the euro

Thank you very much for your recent communication.

We receive a great deal of correspondence each day and, as I hope you

will appreciate, it is only possible to publish a small percentage of it.

I am sorry that on this occasion, your contribution was not among those

published, but I am grateful to you for taking the time to contact us.

Yours sincerely,

ANDY SIMPSON,

Daily Mail Readers Letters Editor.

The Daily Mail is on my list. This isn’t over.

That is all.

j