At a later date, I will furnish Mr Doyle with facts and figures on which he can ponder in his presumably well-fed life of comfort and convenience. To say that the money received by Mother Teresa was not used for the poor is an accusation to be treated with the contempt it deserves; were it not so wicked it would be downright laughable.

I write as one who lived in close proximity to Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity for quite a number of years. Has this 'gentleman' ever witnessed at close quarters Mother Teresa's life of work and prayer?

Monica McMahon, 5 Foxdene Green, Lucan, Co Dublin.

From Ciaran Hanna DIARMUID DOYLE's comments on 9 September about Mother Teresa especially are, in my opinion, a disgrace.

She was human like us all but she made a big difference to thousands of people.

What is Mr Doyle's contribution to society?

It seems he cannot make a point without being nasty and insulting and there doesn't seem to be any limit to the language he uses.

It must be satisfying for him to write a column every week so that he can vent his bile against anybody he chooses.

Padre Pio didn't meet with his approval either and once again his language is deplorable and will cause offence to thousands of people in this country.

Anti-GAA and anti-Church from comments in the past. Tell us what or who he approves of?

Ciaran Hanna, 48 Pinewood Hill, Warrenpoint, Co Down.

From Fr Donal Roche I HAVE become used to seeing the Catholic Church and its teachings regularly mocked and ridiculed in the Irish media so it takes a lot to make me angry, but your edition of 9 September has reached a new low in gutter journalism. First there was the article by Eithne Tynan about the Church's role in education. I accept that Ms Tynan is entitled to her opinion but I take great exception to her insulting personal remarks about the Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and former Archbishop McQuaid as well as her sarcastic references to Catholic teachings such as transubstantiation which has nothing to do with her argument but is simply a gratuitous attack on the sincerely held belief of Catholics.

However, this paled into the ha'penny place when I saw what followed on the next page.

Diarmuid Doyle took a break from his usual boring rants about the Garda Siochana to have a go at Mother Teresa and Padre Pio instead, two of the most loved and respected figures in the Catholic Church.

Can I quote just one sentence for the benefit of those who missed it: "Mother Teresa of Calcutta was a different fish entirely, perhaps one of the worst frauds to walk the earth in the late 20th century and the greatest charlatan to be proposed for sainthood since Padre Pio began leaking."

Is this an attempt to be humorous? The blasphemy of referring to the stigmata as 'leaking' is something I would not expect in the worst of the gutter papers, never mind the 'quality' Sunday Tribune. And as for the lies about Mother Teresa, they are clearly ridiculous and not worthy of comment.

Mr Doyle has shown himself to be a nasty and bitter little man and he has just lost the Sunday Tribune at least one more reader.

Fr Donal Roche, PP, Church of Divine Mercy, Lucan, Co Dublin.

Irish language needs modern approach From Darren Mac an Phriora OVER one year ago Fine Gael called for the official Irish language movement to be audited. To his credit, Eamon O Cuiv has restructured the movement somewhat. He has moved the 'Glor na nGael' organisation to the heart of the Rath Cairn Gaeltacht in Meath and he plans to convert the offices of Conradh na Gaeilge in Dublin into a new culturalcentre.

Questions remain over the ability of the state body Foras na Gaeilge, though, to market the language properly.

Recently they have set up a new 3.6m fund to aid Irish language groups promote the language locally.

How many people realistically expect this money to be spent? There are at best a handful of groups promoting the Irish language locally in the Republic of Ireland. Would it not have been better for Foras na Gaeilge to spend most of this money on a marketing campaign to promote the language nationally . . . now?

I know that many Irish speakers balk at the ineffectiveness of the official Irish language movement to promote the language.

With the exception of GaelTaca (Corcaigh), Gaillimh Le Gaeilge and Forbairt Feirste, the Irish language movement does not use the most modern marketing techniques to promote the language.

Some will always complain about there being a lack of funds, but until all of the organisations can demonstrate their commitment to 21st century marketing techniques they will not be taken seriously.

Darren Mac an Phriora, Corran Chaislean Cnucha, Caislean Cnucha, Baile Atha Cliath 15.

Motorists should protect cyclists From Geraldine McDermott I WOULD like to ask all motorists to take extra care when passing cyclists on the road. Please motorists, give plenty of space to cyclists.

Do not overtake a cyclist when there is traffic coming towards you. The danger of hitting the cyclist is great, either through your fault in misjudging space or the cyclist may wobble or swerve unexpectedly. This is usually not the fault of the cyclist but is due to poor road surfaces, broken road margins, cracks, potholes and lumps, puddles and floods, cats' eyes, brambles growing out onto the roadside, pedestrians on the road, or other hazards which the motorist may not be aware of.

Please just wait behind the cyclist until you have a clear road to overtake. This usually means a slight delay of a few seconds or minutes, which you will easily make up when you are past the cyclist.

Please do not forget that a cyclist is a very vulnerable human body . . . a slight tip can be enough to kill a cyclist.

Geraldine McDermott, Moycullen, Co Galway.

Moving Ireland away from incineration From Stephen Dineen IT WOULD have helped last Sunday if Michael Clifford had given the full facts when writing about the issue of incineration and John Gormley's attitudes to the issue ("Has incineration finally burnt itself out or is it just lighting up?"). Yes, the Greens are in favour of a zero waste strategy, but he failed to mention that central to the strategy is support for mechanical and biological treatment . . . an efficient form of waste management with safer residual emissions than incineration. It is for this reason, and not the 'Not in my back yard' phenomenon, that the minister is trying to move Ireland away from plans to incinerate.

Stephen Dineen, Grattan Place, Dublin 2.

Dominance inGAA games hurts players From Michael O'Connor THE recent defeat of Limerick by Kilkenny in the hurling final prompts me to write.

The biggest drawback in the GAA is the dominance by a small number of counties. In hurling, Cork, Tipperary and Kilkenny between them have won 85 All Irelands.

In football, Kerry has dominated. In fairness, each year Cork and Tipperary can field decent football teams. The Kilkenny County Board is probably the only board in Ireland which has never made a decent effort to promote both games.

The Kilkenny football team is almost a national joke. This dominance is likely to get worse.

The successful counties now begin intensive training as early as December. It is comparatively easy for those counties to get their players to go through this punishing schedule, as they have a realistic chance of winning an All-Ireland.

However, what about the weaker counties. What incentive is there for players in those counties to go through this punishing schedule?

In my view, collective inter-county training should be prohibited until the late spring. All counties would then start on a level playing field.

The most disappointing aspect in this matter is the deafening silence of the GAA. I wonder why?

In my opinion the GAA should hold a special congress to discuss these very important matters.

Michael O'Connor, Kilvoultra, Macroom, Co Cork.