Sir, - I have read with mounting astonishment the ongoing whinging from the Government about Army claims for compensation. Certainly the legal profession is well deserving of criticism but to be subjected to criticism on "moral" grounds by Fianna Fail politicians unsettles the stomach ever so slightly.
Like many solicitors I do not advertise and believe that the introduction of advertising has been a disaster. Advertising was, however, imposed on the profession. Granted, the shameless enthusiasm with which some solicitors have promoted the compensation striptease has been distasteful, but the introduction of advertising was only ever going to have this precise effect. No doubt the politicians responsible got their few extra votes the day they announced that they had "taken on" the legal profession and "opened it up to competition". Perhaps the speed with which some solicitors sank to the standards of politics has taken them by surprise.
In anticipation of some crawling party lackey writing in with the usual crap about there being "not a shred of evidence to suggest that anyone ever . . . the highest standards in public office . . . a thankless job, etc. etc.": don't bother. No-one believes you. But do remember that the same rules apply to the men in the Army who "serve the country at risk to their lives . . . military integrity . . . no evidence whatsoever to suggest . . . etc, etc."
Grating to the ear are the squeals of indignation from the fat old sows in Leinster House when anyone else but themselves finds a space at the trough.
I write in a private capacity. I don't act for any soldiers. I don't know any solicitors acting for soldiers. I do not represent the views of solicitors in general or the Law Society - in fact I disagree with most utterances from that particular body. I am not prepared, however, to listen in silence to unfair criticism from self-serving politicians anxious to deflect responsibility from themselves.
Finally, I notice that they are all quick enough to run to their own solicitors to seek compensation if the opportunity presents. No doubt that is a different matter and can't be compared to the Army cases - or can it? - Yours, etc. Peter Nugent,
Herbert Street, Dublin 2.