Madam, - Fred O'Donovan argues (January 5th) that we should leave the Taoiseach to run the country and stop obsessing about the minutiae of his personal finances. The implication is that these minutiae might well unearth some inconsistencies, but that when viewed through the prism of the man's other great achievements they are all but irrelevant.
I disagree. As a man in my early thirties I view the endemic corruption of Ireland's recent past with horror. The culture that condoned political leaders being privately funded by rich businessmen, is not something to be forgotten or simply left to pass: its exposure and unequivocal condemnation are essential to our democracy.
The tribunals should continue, with the full support of all political parties, until this goal has been achieved. Only then can we move on or begin to discuss the legacy of the Taoiseach, or indeed of any of the other leading political figures of this period. - Yours, etc,
JIM McGOWAN,
Sandyford,
Dublin 18.
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Madam, - Fred O'Donovan feels our Taoiseach is hard done by "because he accepted £50,000 from friends". Surely Mr O'Donovan isn't naive enough to believe that this is all the issue amounts to. What about credibility, honesty and, frankly, fitness to hold public office?
He suggests, even more naively, that we "let the Government, led by the Taoiseach, tackle the real problems...drugs, the health service, crime, homelessness and other life-threatening issues". Would these be the same "real problems" that Mr Ahern and his band of incompetents have singularly failed to tackle and resolve during their past 11 years of continuous governance? - Yours, etc,
DAVID MARLBOROUGH,
Kenilworth Park,
Dublin 6w.
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Madam, - No doubt the tribunals will rack up another small fortune in costs this year. Is it not time to call a halt? Surely anyone with any common sense knows that we were a nod and wink society for years.
Why not give the money currently being wasted to the fraud squad and ensure that corrupt public officials or politicians go to prison? I imagine that this would eradicate the need for any future tribunals in the decades ahead. - Yours, etc,
PETER FITZPATRICK,
Mount Street Crescent,
Dublin 2.
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Madam, - Paddy O'Brien (January 5th) may indeed have a point when he says that the earnings of the people who are putting the Taoiseach "through the hoops" is "difficult to justify".
On the same day Fred O'Donovan expresses a widely held opinion that tribunal questioning of the Taoiseach "because he accepted £50,000 from friends" is "obsessive".
What such people ignore, however, is the fact that the tribunals were set up, and their terms of reference approved, by the Government headed by the Taoiseach. In this they were supported by the Oireachtas. They also ignore the fact that the salaries and expenses of tribunal staff were also sanctioned by the Taoiseach and Government.
Many ordinary people might find it hard to accept complaints that the most powerful politician in the country should not be questioned about a mere £50,0000 by a body set up by the representatives of the people in the Oireachtas because the Government-sanctioned tribunal lawyers' salaries are too high. - Yours, etc,
A. LEAVY,
Shielmartin Drive,
Sutton,
Dublin 13.
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Madam, - Could Fred O'Donovan and Paddy O'Brien take a dose of reality? What is at issue is not just £50,000 from friends.
As for the reference to a "better future" to be brought about by the present administration, who has been running the country for the past decade, and has failed utterly to tackle the problems outlined?
In relation to the settlement in Northern Ireland, the current Taoiseach is not the only one who deserves credit; over many years several taoisigh and British prime ministers were involved.
May I point out that it is not Bertie Ahern's "earnings" that are under scrutiny, but the monies he amassed from friends and others while serving as a Government Minister, including his period as Minister for Finance. It beggars belief that he actually stashed large sums of personal cash in the official safe in the Department of Finance and that nobody questioned the propriety of such behaviour.
A few months ago Mr Ahern suggested that those who were anxious about an economic downturn should commit suicide. More recently he rounded on those who dared to question his salary increase of €38,000, and made quite ludicrous comparisons between his post and those of the US president and the British prime minister.
I wish to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to the Mahon Tribunal for its very measured approach, and am delighted to know my hard-earned taxes are helping to defray the costs of untangling the web of hidden finances of which most citizens were blissfully ignorant. Would both correspondents like to comment on the amount of State money squandered in the past 10 years of maladministration under the stewardship of the present Taoiseach - Yours, etc,
CELIA KEHOE,
Celbridge,
Co Kildare.
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Madam, - The Taoiseach is annoyed at the tribunal leaks. Does he not understand his tax affairs are annoying taxpayers, who are very annoyed that he is annoyed. He is fast becoming a very annoying person. - Yours, etc,
KEN BUGGY,
Ballydubh Upper,
Co Waterford.