Ronan has offended Jews

The use by developer Johnny Ronan of the term ‘arbeit macht frei’ (work sets you free), in his submission to the banking inquiry, is not merely crass, but culturally offensive to Ireland’s small Jewish community (Irish Examiner, 25, September).

Anyone with even a basic understanding of the Jewish tragedy would recognise it as one of the Nazis’ most cynical and exploitative ploys to trick desperate men, women and children into believing they were not going to be killed, but were merely entering a work camp.

It is beyond comprehension that Mr Ronan would firstly, use such an offensive and culturally insensitive term and secondly, that the Oireachtas has refused to remove it from the official website record.