Madam, - The case which has lead to the voiding of a section of law intended to protect children from sexual predators is another example of a failure to plan or anticipate outcomes.
Surely the Attorney General's office and the Department of Justice was aware that this case was coming before the Supreme Court. And it should have occurred to someone at some level that the court might rule in favour of the plaintiff. And it would be expected that some thought would have gone into how to address that outcome and its possible effects.
The simple issue of competence at the heart of this is that (a) people should have been aware an event was about to occur; (b) they had to have some idea of possible outcomes; and (c) they should have prepared some measures to deal with those outcomes should they arise. Call it anticipation or planning - I believe the term used in politics is "being on top of your brief".
The basic fact remains that the system has failed because of a lack of due attention by those in high office to what was going on around them. If not one single person of significance loses their job over this, then we are being told as bluntly as you like that no matter what happens, no matter how big the screw-up, no matter how dire the consequences, no one in this Government will ever take responsibility for anything that goes wrong. - Yours, etc,
DANIEL K. SULLIVAN, Beaumont, Dublin 9.
Madam, - In his column last Saturday Stephen Collins suggests that this Government will be assessed at the next election on its record of competence. Such an audit would reveal a sorry record of broken promises and non achievement.
The appalling debacle of the child-rape case is the latest instance of mismanagement, to be lined up with the failure to deliver a world class health service, the non-implementation of a road safety strategy, the allowance of unrestrained development resulting in urban sprawl and consequent damage to our environment, the decentralisation fiasco, spiralling house prices - the list goes on and on. And now the great leader absents himself from the country.
Recently the Taoiseach admitted to surprise at the Government's poor performance in the opinion polls - and this is the man who is reputed to have a legendary instinct for political reality! - Yours, etc,
BRIAN ROSS, Shankill, Co Dublin.
Madam, - The Law Reform Commission and solicitor Edel Kennedy are to be thanked for putting the inadequacies of the carnal knowledge laws in the public domain. It is a matter of grave concern that legislators did not heed these warnings.
Another crucial potential instrument for the protection of children today is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Due to the dualist nature of our legal system this convention can take effect only by way of a constitutional referendum. As with so many of these crucial measures the Government has been completely inactive in this regard despite the urgings of the UN.
An overarching constitutional protection of the rights of the child is now demonstrably imperative. Let's hope the Government now takes the initiative for once with an amendment which might have prevented this apalling vista and others in the future. - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL McLOUGHLIN, Youth Work Ireland, Lower Dominick Street, Dublin 7.
Madam, - In Ireland we are subject to the "rule of law". This should ensure that the guilty are apprehended and sanctioned appropriately, and the innocent are protected. Both the innocent citizen and the victim of crime should feel that their rights are at least as important as those of the wrongdoers. Justice, truth and common sense should prevail over that which is unjust, false or just plain stupid.
Instead we have a vastly overpaid legal profession arguing over the interpretation of the Constitution, and what is or is not the letter of the law. While this may be better than mob rule, it is clearly a deeply inadequate state of affairs. - Yours, etc,
Dr ANDREW LEARY, Ballysaggart, Lismore, Co Waterford.
Madam, - With Enda Kenny's promise to personally "make the criminals pay" and Pat Rabbitte's summary dismissal of a "dissertation on criminal law" with regards to the statutory rape legislation, are we to believe that the alternative government will be somewhat akin to a sentencing tribunal where popular justice is meted out to the baying of the masses below? - Yours, etc,
JACK HICKEY, Dalkey, Co Dublin.
Madam, - This time, no amount of make-up can help the Taoiseach to gloss over this mess.
I, like many citizens in this country, expect to see resignations. - Yours, etc,
ROBERT KEARNS, Castleknock, Dublin.
Madam, - Whatever about "a lot done", it seems Bertie Ahern was not understating the case when he declared there was "more to do". If the Government has managed to neglect such a crucial section of such a crucial law for so many years, we all have to wonder what other legal disasters lie ahead of us. - Yours, etc,
JOHN STAFFORD, Dargle Wood, Dublin 16.