Madam, - In reporting the State Papers for 1975, The Irish Times of December 31st lists me among a number of journalists who "were wined and dined on a lavish scale" at taxpayers' expense 30 years ago.
The report (from the Press Association) said: "Government Information Service (GIS) staff wined and dined journalists on a lavish scale in the mid-1970s. Memos and expense claims show free drinks and meals for war correspondent Robert Fisk, John Simpson of the BBC and former Irish Times editor Conor Brady, then editor of the Garda Review.
"One dinner hosted by posts and telegraphs minister Conor Cruise O'Brien in the Shelbourne Hotel in May 1975 shows an average of one bottle of wine per guest as well as spirits. Half of the £69.73 bill was spent on drinks.
"A GIS official said the dinner guests included the chief political correspondent of Iranian television, who was 'a political adviser to the prime minister and a member of the aristocracy with close connections with the Shah'. The bill for the five people included five bottles of wine, spirits, minerals and tobacco."
Alas, I was never the beneficiary of any such largesse. I was at no dinner with Dr Dr Cruise O'Brien or anyone else in Government.
In fact, the State Papers show I was entertained just once by a member of the Government Information Service. On a date in early 1975, he bought me a coffee and claimed 34p. I am happy to say the file shows that his claim for this lavish indulgence was approved. - Yours, etc,
CONOR BRADY, Monkstown, Co Dublin.