12 DECEMBER 1992, Page 34

The far-flung Irish

Sir: John Simpson's excellent piece on 'The Irish Empire' (21 November) erred in describing the present Australian Prime Minister as the first of 'fully Irish extrac- tion'.

James Scullin (1929-31), Joseph Lyons (1931-39), John Curtin (1941-45) and Ben Chifley (1945-49) were all Irish.

A further argument in support of the article's theme comes from a comparison of the present Irish and Australian ministries. Because the former is smaller in size and the latter has a lot of Irish in it, it is claimed that the Australian government has more Irish ministers than the Irish.

Peter Heerey

1A Bethune Street, East Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia