A chara, - Jason O'Mahony (June 7th) argues that anybody who supported Fianna Fail "after 1987, after Des O'Malley et al were expelled, basically gave the nod to Haughey".
The fact which Mr O'Mahony, who was a PD candidate at the last local elections, neglects to mention is that Des O'Malley and his party supported Fianna Fail in Government between 1989 and 1992. Yet I would never say that Des O'Malley endorsed certain actions by Charles Haughey.
Equally, it is very unfair to seek to taint all members or supporters of Fianna Fail with the argument that if one backs the country's biggest party, one condones what Charles Haughey has done.
There is enormous anger and disappointment within Fianna Fail at the behaviour of Charles Haughey and others. It is perhaps not sufficiently expressed in public, but there is a strong view that those that have damaged the party's name and that of politics generally will be firmly dealt with and, where possible, disciplined.
Those who support Fianna Fail believe in the ethos of public service and in using politics to achieve a better Ireland. That view is shared, I am certain, by the vast majority of those who support any of our political parties.
The challenge for all of us involved in civic society (and that includes groups other than the political parties) is to restore confidence in the political process, to encourage democratic participation and to ensure that the scandals that we are now uncovering never happen again.
That means removing from public life the few that have damaged the concept of public service (and virtually all Fianna Failers would share that view), but it also means acknowledging the positive achievements and potential of politics.
Restoring faith in the process is not best done by attacking those who are actively involved in that process through supporting Fianna Fail, but rather by collectively putting forward a vision of what can be achieved by getting involved.
I have no doubt that this view may attract some cynical responses but I challenge those respondents to set out their ideals for the future of politics in Ireland rather than a narrow tit-for-tat series of letters to these pages. - Is mise,
Malcolm Byrne, Fianna Fail member, Gorey Town Commissioners, Gorey, Co Wexford.