Madam, - Some whip-around! - Yours, etc,
VINCENT NORDELL, Kincora Road, Clontarf, Dublin 3.
Madam, - At Charles Haughey's graveside the Taoiseach said: "The definition of a patriot is someone who devotes all their energy to the betterment of their countrymen. Charles Haughey was a patriot to his fingertips."
I would like the Taoiseach to explain how his description of the late Taoiseach tallies with the Moriarty, report which finds that Charles Haughey "devalued the quality of a modern democracy". A patriot does not misappropriate funds intended for a sick friend for his own private use; nor does a patriot treat a national bank as his own private slush fund. The fingertips mentioned by Bertie Ahern were fumbling in a greasy till. - Is mise,
L. CURTIN, Cabra, Dublin 7.
A chara, - So here we are, nine years and many millions of euro in lawyers' fees later, and we are told exactly what we knew from the start - that the late Charles Haughey accepted large sums of money from a range of sources to support an extravagant lifestyle. Was it all really worth it just so that the usual suspects could spend the week on RTÉ giddily telling the nation "I told you so"?
It is over 14 years since Mr Haughey resigned as Taoiseach. There have been three taoisigh and five governments since then. This report has absolutely no bearing on political life today.
Can we please now just move on? - Is mise,
DAVID CARROLL, Castle Gate, Dublin 2.
Madam, - So the man that has been shown to be, at the least, an incompetent bookkeeper is now our Taoiseach? Shame on him and shame on us. - Yours, etc,
GARRY CLARKE, Spricklestown, The Ward, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Far from devaluing democracy, as the Moriarty report states, Mr Haughey and his ilk showed the value of it: a councillor could be got for a few grand, a Minister for a few hundred grand, and the head of Government for a few million.
Ah well, that's all behind us now, isn't it. . ? - Yours, etc,
BRIAN M LUCEY, School of Business, Trinity College, Dublin 2.
Madam, - The mark of a good con-man is that his victims appear happy to have been relieved of large sums of money. Following yesterday's publication of the Moriarty report, the reaction of Charles Haughey's victims - in particular members of Fianna Fáil and, not least, the Lenihan family - demonstrate that, in this respect at least, he was truly a genius. - Yours, etc,
GORDON DAVIES, Briar Wood, Bray, Co Wicklow.
Madam, - Should we now have a new tribunal to investigate why it took Mr Justice Moriarty's tribunal nine years and €25 million to reach its findings? - Yours, etc,
NATALLIA HUNT, Ballinagee, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow.
Madam, - In light of the defence offered by Michael Stone for his recent attack on Stormont (The Irish Times, December 20th), is it not possible that the late Mr Haughey's political career was actually a piece of performance art? - Yours, etc,
DIARMAID MAC AONGHUSA, Shankill, Co Dublin.
Madam, - What a pity that in the season of good will we have to read about the evil that was Charlie Haughey's reign in Government. - Yours, etc,
JOE HARVEY, Glenageary Woods, Glenageary, Co Dublin.