Burger myth exploded
Sir: I am writing in response to Michael Moran's article (lies, damn lies and lep- rechauns', 17 September) , which discussed the Irish-American population, their sym- pathies with Northern Ireland and the rumour that McDonald's contributes funds to the IRA. As Mr Moran correctly acknowledged, there is absolutely no truth in the rumour whatsoever, but we wish to give your readers the opportunity to under- stand from where it originated.
In the United States one of the common tax-free retirement funds is called Individu- al Retirement Accounts. McDonald's made it simple for its employees to contribute to these funds by way of payroll deductions. It is normal in the US for these individual retirement accounts to be abbreviated to IRAs and for any references in company accounts and payroll deductions to be shown as IRA contributions.
It is quite clear how this term could easily lead to a complete misunderstanding and McDonald's has therefore altered its proce- dures accordingly, I wish to reiterate that neither McDonald's UK nor our American parent company, McDonald's Corporation, ever has or ever will contribute to the Irish Republican Army, Noraid, or any other ter- rorist organisation in any way.
Veronica Foster
McDonald's Restaurants Ltd, 11-59 High Road, East Finchley
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