Madam, - BARRY WALSH, (April 1st), is not satisfied with Libertas's repeated statements in regards to its funding. I hope you will allow me to clarify our position one final time.
Libertas is a registered third party with the Standards in Public Office commission, registered for the purpose of campaigning for a "No" vote in the forthcoming referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
Under existing legislation, Libertas cannot accept donations in excess of €6,348.69 in any one year from either an individual or an entity.
Further, we are required by law to make public the identity of any individual or entity who donates in excess of €4,999.99.
Libertas received two donations at the maximum level in 2007, from Declan J Ganley and Delia Ganley.
No other donations to Libertas exceed the level at which we are legally required to disclose the donor's identity.
I would remind Mr Walsh that no person who donates to Libertas is breaking the law, so long as they are an Irish citizen.
As Irish citizens, they are entitled to the privacy afforded to them by the laws of our land, and as such, we have neither any obligation nor intention to breach that privacy.
Mr Walsh, who serves as president of Young Fine Gael, should bear in mind that neither his own party nor the Fianna Fáil party disclosed the name of a single donor in 2007.
The electoral laws of this country are in place for a reason.
If Mr Walsh, or any other correspondent, has issues with them, let them take it up with their elected representatives.
There are innumerable issues of importance at stake in the forthcoming referendum - the right of Libertas to run a campaign that is within the law is not one of them - Mr Walsh should really know better. - Yours, etc,
Madam, - As someone as yet undecided on the Lisbon Treaty, I find the hysterics of some of the pro-treaty camp somewhat unsettling. If they want the electorate to approve this treaty, then they need to spell out the benefits to them.
We need less nonsense about doomsday scenarios as if this were a referendum about pulling out of Europe altogether.
Let's not forget the Netherlands and France whose electorate already rejected 95 per cent of the content of this treaty; or the Swiss and Norwegians who are quite successfully surviving outside of the European project.
In my own experience, and contrary to Eamonn Farrell's implication, (April 1st) American executives in California barely know what the Lisbon Treaty is - never mind its impact on their operations in Ireland.
Much more to the forefront of their thinking is the inflated value of the euro which has significantly increased their operations costs here.
The value of the euro through interest rates is decided with German and French borrowers and savers in mind, with Irish economic needs barely registering.
And of course, the Lisbon Treaty is about continuing the shift of European influence to those countries at the expense of smaller countries like Ireland.
Also of concern to foreign investors will be the continued European efforts at corporate tax harmonisation which would further undermine Ireland's competitiveness - also an initiative spearheaded by countries to which our political elite seem determined to hand further powers.
At the moment, I see nothing in the Lisbon Treaty that would allay the fears of Irish employees working for American multi-nationals.
The Lisbon Treaty would, at a push, come a poor third to the issues of the euro valuation and corporate tax.
Lastly, if Gerry Adams, Declan Ganley and Áine Ní Chonaill declared their belief that the earth revolves around the sun, and the rest of the political mainstream objected, who would Mr. Farrell agree with?
If the Irish people decide to vote against this treaty, it will not be because of any commonality with these individuals.
To suggest otherwise is an insult to the electorate's intelligence. - Yours, etc,
Madam, - Desmond Fitzgerald (March 28th) says that Fine Gael should not campaign on the Lisbon Treaty and should instead devote all its resources to winning the next election.
If Fine Gael should even think of following Mr Fitzgerald's advice, it would be a very good reason not to vote for them.
Indeed, it would be reason to consider that they are even less fit to govern than Fianna Fáil.
What he is, in effect, saying is that the party should be so totally committed to electioneering that it should not engage with issues.
Does he think the Irish are so uninterested in and ignorant about politics that they would find this acceptable?
For the sake of politics in Ireland it is to be hoped that Fine Gael don't share Mr. Fitzgerald's view that the Lisbon Treaty is of so little importance. - Yours, etc,
FRANK FALLS, Frühlingstrasse, Baldham, Bavaria.