The play was touring the UK after an initial run in The Royal Court Theatre, London, and they wanted to perform the play in Dublin, at the Peacock Theatre (157 seats). I flew to Birmingham and attended a Sunday night performance in the studio space in The Crucible (60 seats), returned to Dublin on the Monday, and had a meeting with John Slemon and Tomás Mac Anna, artistic director of the Abbey Theatre, and I urged them to transfer the show upstairs to The Abbey Theatre (628 seats). They agreed to my appeal and, three weeks later on a Sunday night in a packed Abbey Theatre, Athol Fugard’s passionate anti-apartheid play was thunderously received by an Irish audience. A few months later, when the tour had finished, John Kani was interviewed by The Guardian and he and John Kani said the best audience they had on the whole tour was that night in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. John Slemon subsequently went on to become the general manager of the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town, South Africa, and produced an all-African cast performing Juno and the Paycock by Seán O’Casey. John Kani and Winston Ntshona went on play the two tramps in Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, which transferred to The Old Vic, London, where I met up with the two great actors once again. Athol Fugard, without a doubt, exposed apartheid and contributed to its dismantling by his powerful writing. Ronan Wilmot, actor/director, The Dublin Theatre Company, Kilmainham, Dublin Some have pointed out similarities between the president of the United States of America and Conor McGregor, former UFC fighter. After all, both men are given to bouts of self-aggrandisement and both have been found liable for sexual assault in civil courts. There is a major difference, nonetheless. Donald Trump won the US presidential election last November. Conor McGregor has not won anything — not even a court case — for some years now. Bernie Linnane, Dromahair, Co Leitrim Who creates waste? Some 75% of consumers recycle correctly. As it is, there is too much emphasis on how the consumer separates their waste. The glass milk bottle was easy to manage. It landed on your door in the morning. You used it, washed it, and left it outside the door with the cat at night. Simple. Now we are asked, with the limited amount of time we have in our packed lives, to wash, dry, and separate every piece of packaging we get in the supermarket. Does anyone see the madness is this? We have the bins. We do our best. And that is without having a degree in plastics or packaging. It’s time to look to manufacturers who produce the wide range of plastic packaging. Just look at the recent update on the milk carton. The EU wants the cap to stay attached to the carton using an extra added plastic ring. Anyone remember when this milk carton came without plastic? Tony O’Loughlin, Coonagh, Limerick Shedding the years on the golf course Some of my golfing buddies have remarked that, physically, I behave nowhere near what my chronological age would suggest. I like to think that it may have something to do with the fact that, over the last couple of years, I have managed to play more golf on weekends than most professionals get to do over their entire careers. On the other hand, I’m convinced that my wife believes that I combine the mind of a 12-year-old with the body of a 70-year-old pensioner. Just goes to show that there are unexpectedly beneficial side-effects in trying to tell the truth. Liam Power, Dundalk, Co Louth Accountability It is reported that our Government is spending millions of euro “battling” in the courts, parents of children requiring assessments. We elect politicians to represent our interests. Politicians appoint senior civil servants. Parents requesting constitutional and basic civil rights for children are forced, at great expense, to resort to the courts to have rights afforded. I say shame on our politicians and senior civil servants. I ask where is the decency, honesty, and integrity of politicians and senior civil servants? Ministers, politicians, and senior civil servants need to face their responsibilities to the people of Ireland, and children with special needs in particular. I suggest this country is sadly lacking in accountability when it comes to the expenditure of taxpayers’ funds. In my opinion, our political leaders need to implement change in this regard. Michael Moriarty, Rochestown, Cork.