Sir , – I have had the privilege to represent Ivor Callelly as his solicitor in the recent court case that recorded convictions against him. He pleaded guilty to the offences with which he was charged. In so doing he had the honesty and integrity to acknowledge the wrongfulness of his actions. Had he chosen to, he could have pleaded differently .
Ivor Callelly was a victim of a culture which promoted expense claims – “Of the politicians, for the politicians, by the politicians” – which it was open to politicians of all hues to exploit.
In a culture that has seen even recently the amount claimed by high-profile politicians come into question, is it not time to have a full investigation to examine every detail of the legitimacy of all expenses claimed by all politicians both past and present? The initiation of such an appropriate inquiry would be in the public interest and would ensure that Ivor Callelly was not just sacrificed on the altar of political expediency and hyprocrisy in a perceived purgation of the political process .
Perhaps the results of such an inquiry would challenge the media to apply their attention to more serious and egregious breaches of the expenses claim regime than the relatively small amount involved in the case of Ivor Callelly .
I write this letter in a personal capacity. – Yours, etc,
NOEL O’HANRAHAN
BA LLM,
Ballybough Road,
Dublin 3