Sir, – Eamon Ryan believes the last government, of which he was a member, only agreed to the potential sale of State assets as part of the agreement with the troika because they felt that Labour would soon replace them in Government and renege on this pledge ("Greens believed Labour would not go ahead with privatisation", Home News, May 7th). This is an absolutely extraordinary admission.
If Mr Ryan expects us to believe this, then it suggests that the last government entered into the memorandum of understanding with the troika on bad faith, since they had no intention of living up to one of the key commitments contained in it. Effectively, they were telling porkies to the only institutions that were willing to lend to Ireland at a time of imminent financial collapse.
It also suggests that the members of the last government were conspiring to make their own lives easier by agreeing to whatever the troika wanted and, in the process, make life for their successors more difficult by adding to the mess that they would have to clean up.
Does Mr Ryan really think that he is fit to serve in public office again, despite admitting to this act of gross irresponsibility? – Yours, etc,
THOMAS RYAN, BL
Mount Tallant Avenue,
Harolds Cross,
Dublin 6W.