A Chara, - Patsy McGarry appears to seek to rewrite history on two points in his introduction to his piece on the travails of Mr Buttiglione (Oct 27th). He writes that the then Taoiseach, John A Costello, "stood by his church authorities, instead of members of his cabinet. . .and brought down his government", in the Mother and Child crisis of 1951.
All the members of that cabinet were united behind Costello on the issue, save for Noel Browne. Selective quotations are often necessary for brevity. What Mr Costello went on to say after his reference to The Irish Times is relevant, as this canard is constantly trotted out by a variety of commentators. He continued: "the Hierarchy confine themselves to faith and morals. . .it was because the then minister for health took the unusual course of saying, 'I want a special authoritative decision from the Hierarchy in general meeting and an immediate decision' that this matter took the form it finally took".
May I also add that that government fell when three rural TDs withdrew their support on the issue of the price of milk. - Yours, etc.,
ANTHONY JORDAN, Gilford Road, Dublin 4.