Sir, - Borrowing words from the recently departed Victor Meldrew - "I don't believe it!" - I cannot hold back my feelings any longer. The revelations in the Flood Tribunal over the past year and in particular the last few weeks leave me flabbergasted and fuming. Mr Lawlor's arrogance and total lack of respect for the tribunal has been outrageous.
That he continues to hold a position on the Dail Ethics Committee speaks volumes regarding the ethical standards practised and obviously considered acceptable by that supposedly transparent body of politicians. Accountability? It is a joke. The silence of so many and the total inactivity of the Taoiseach on these matters leads only to one conclusion.
Who is next in the queue to be found out? I ask myself what standards of unacceptable behaviour have to be exceeded before an elected Irish political representative tenders his resignation? Currently they consider themselves to be a law unto themselves. Representatives from a banana republic would be more honourable.
The whole stinking mess is a thundering disgrace (more borrowed words). If the next general election polls do not reflect these matters and everything else that has been dragged out into the public domain (and I know there is no guessing what goes on in the minds of many given the past outcome in a certain part of Tipperary), then I utterly despair. - Yours, etc.,
John Burnett, Upper Kilmoney Road, Carrigaline, Co Cork.