THE surprise expressed by Cobh “business chiefs” at the acceptance of an invitation to the Rev Ian Paisley to address the local chamber of commerce, and subsequent courtesy call on Cork City Hall, is matched by my surprise at the invitation being issued in the first instance (April 19).

I SHARE the frustration and indignation at Ireland’s Call being referred to as the national anthem when the Irish rugby team play abroad.

THE decision by An Post to issue a stamp to mark the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme is regrettable. This is not to suggest that those Irish who fell at the Somme should be forgotten.

HAVING debased ourselves as an independent nation by erecting a monument to Francis Drake in Carrigaline, Co Cork, and restoring the monument to Queen Victoria in Dun Laoghaire, should we not now go the whole hog to please our former colonial masters?

IN view of the obsequious welcome Charles Windsor received in Munster last year, I suppose it was not all that surprising to see a cabinet minister unveil a memorial to the English pirate Francis Drake in Carrigaline recently.

AS part of the Cork Capital of Culture someone has chosen to honour one of the worst mass murderers of the 16th century, in the name of the Irish people, in Carrigaline.

IN your coverage of the damage to the Francis Drake monument in Carrigaline (Irish Examiner, July 11), you neglected to mention details of his activities in Ireland.

TREFFLICH is a hopeful choice to land the featured Carlsberg Ruby Stakes at Tralee this afternoon.

FRANCIS DRAKE is said to have hidden from the pursuing Spanish Armada around the wending and wooded sections of the Owenabue river in Cork harbour many centuries ago.