Those of us who are lucky enough to gather with our families at Christmas are truly wealthy.

We hear it every year; the feeble, unsubstantiated claim that St Patrick’s Day trips, at enormous expense to the taxpayer, yield investment in business in our country.

How lucky are we to be in a democracy? Remember George Orwell’s novella, Animal Farm.

I WISH to respond to the letter from Micheál Ó Fearghail headlined ‘Behaviour can increase risk of rape’ (April 11).