Sir, - I refer to the statement by Mr John Bruton TD, leader of Fine Gael, concerning the new allegations about Mr Raphael Burke. From the tone of the statement, one can only presume that Mr Bruton, has forgotten the entire Lowry affair.
I am also very anxious that what is sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander. Are all former Fine Gael office holders prepared to throw open all their personal banking arrangements for the last two decades? Can Fine Gael and the other political parties in the state say they have never received donations from leading Irish businesses?
One might not like the way politicians were funded in the past, but we can not be retrospective in our condemnation. If we want proper, able and competent politicians to run our country we are going to have to pay them properly. If you pay peanuts you get monkeys.
Allow me also thank Mr Burke for all his sterling work in putting the momentum back into the peace process when he assumed office in 1997. There can be little doubt that without his energy and enthusiasm and the clear rapport that existed between him and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Dr Marjorie Mowlam MP, we would not be in the position we are in now.
Let's clean up politics, but let's not punish those who played by the rules of the day. - Yours, etc., Mark Browne,
Blackrock, Co Dublin.