Sir, - I refer to your editorial of July 25th, "Unsteady Hands on Crime". This accuses politicians of not understanding or knowing that criminal justice has a great body of learning internationally, and claims that few have ever bothered to spend their resources examining the best practices and experiences in other countries.
The Fianna Fail Leader Bertie Ahern TD, myself, and a number of senior Fianna Fail personnel travelled to the United States in March 1996 and spent three days meeting top narcotics investigators, members of the judiciary, parliamentary draughts people and leading law enforcement personnel, doing precisely what the editorial accuses us of not doing. Furthermore, the trip was organised and funded entirely by the Fianna Fail Party and was the subject of coverage in your paper at that time. - Yours, etc.,
General Secretary,
Fianna Fail,
13 Upper Mount Street,
Dublin 2.