Sir, - Is it not about time we forgot about Ben Dunne's donations? Are our politicians really stupid enough to be calling for another tribunal or commission, or whatever? Surely we don't want to waste more money on this kind of nonsense - even if the lawyers are by now short of a million or two.
If I (or Ben Dunne, or anyone else) want to give money to a political party, who has any right to stop me spending some of the money the Government has not, yet collected? And why should the man in the street get to know what I gave, and to whom? I thought this was a free country.
In any case, is it not obvious that if I want to give a million or so to some party, I can easily resort to an anonymous sub? If I send Bertie A. or John B. a trunkful of notes with no name attached, what are they supposed to do with it? Flush it down the toilet?
Political parties have always kept going by collecting from supporters, and they always will. Why not let them take anything that gullible people are prepared to shell out? - Yours, etc.,
Pakenham Road, Monkstown, Co Dublin.