Madam, - The Minister for Justice's Dáil remarks about Frank Connolly are deeply disquieting.
It does not matter whether Mr McDowell is right or wrong about Mr Connolly's connections - even though that seems to the Minister to be the key issue. What really matters is that the Minister - who seems to accept that there would not be enough evidence to establish his claims in a court of law - has chosen to use his Dáil privilege to make, in his own terms, a pre-emptive strike on a citizen of this State.
As Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell is the temporary custodian of our justice system and it does little to inspire confidence in the fairness and impartiality of that system when its custodian takes it upon himself to bypass and thus undermine due process. Every citizen of this State is by now aware of Mr McDowell's comments and thus any attempt by Mr Connolly to get a fair hearing has surely disappeared.
The time has come for Mr McDowell to take the only honourable course of action. - Yours etc,
HARRY McCAULEY, Maynooth, Co Kildare.