READING Mark Smith’s article about the out-of-control woman in London shouting abuse at a Trump supporter ("The angry anti-Trump woman and what she says about us all", The Herald, May 7) reminded me of the contrasting scenes in Ireland where there was genuine warmth shown by the local Irish people to the Trump family. Indeed to see the American flags on display and the locals having pints with Donald Jnr and his brother Eric was a site to behold.
The fact is the Trump family appear to be well-liked in Doonberg, where a large number of local people rely on jobs at the golf course owned by the President. The Trumps even have a tab at the the local pub and while some of the
Not so by the vocal minority in Aberdeen and Scotland where the Trump family have had to fight “tooth and nail” to build their new world-beating golf course and accept Nicola Sturgeon stripping the President of his role as business ambassador. How pathetic we must look to outsiders keen for development and jobs.
Ian Lakin,
Aberdeen AB13.
A TRADE deal-craving UK entertains President Trump, who spent some of his time eyeing up the family silver. Perhaps he thinks a garage sale is looming.
Meanwhile, President Xi is in Russia meeting with President Putin. These two countries certainly have their problems, but they remain global players, and I feel this meeting may prove more beneficial to them than ours will be to us.
GR Weir,
Ochiltree.
Past imperfect
IN his somewhat idiosyncratic letter (June 7) on the negative effects of the Curriculum for Excellence on the narrowing of curriculum choice in schools today, Stuart Mitchell praises “the rigorous syllabuses required for Highers a generation ago” compared with foreign language courses offered in schools today.
Exposure to these “rigorous syllabuses” endowed my older sister with the ability, even today in her early 80s, to rattle off the list of German prepositions which take the accusative case, together with the list of those which are followed by the dative case; somehow or other the smaller list of those that take the genitive case has slipped her memory.
Sadly, that endowment never equipped her, neither in her schooldays nor now, with the ability to string together more than one or two words on the rare occasions she found herself in the company of German speakers – something she greatly regrets.
Ian Boyes,
Stirling.
Bring back Kilroy
IT’S quite some time since I’ve seen a “Kilroy was here”, and I’m indebted to Thelma Edwards for resurrecting him (Letters, June 6).
As far as I recall he first appeared in the UK during the Second World War, via the United States, and it is only in recent years that he has disappeared, probably his travels now restricted by old age.
Fortunately, the declarations were not restricted to Gents’ toilets, and were many and varied, and in the most unlikely places.
A quick Google suggests various origins, and perhaps it is now time for a “son of Kilroy” to brighten our day: but God forbid a “Donald”.
R Russell Smith,
Kilbirnie.
No emergency
THERE is some debate about Gaelic road signs being placed in Lowland South Ayrshire, where the last native Gaelic speaker passed many years ago. I often wonder if the Gael has yet been born who would not recognise a police car or an ambulance without the unnecessary Gaelic vinyls plastered all over them?
John Dunlop, Ayr.
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