Sir, I refer of Vincent Browne's "Opinion" (April 30th) in relation to my evidence at two different Tribunals.
Mr. Browne's analysis is based on a false premise because it ignores the key passage of my evidence to the Beef Tribunal, which was quoted in full in another part of your paper (page 7) on the same day as Mr. Browne's article appeared.
This passage (Question and Answer 19, Evidence of the Beef Tribunal, June 22nd 1992) and a reading of the full transcript of all my evidence to the Beef Tribunal shows that I told the Beef Tribunal:
- that I did assume a role in national fundraising activities but not until after I became Party Leader.
- that my evidence to the Beef Tribunal related to normal practices with particular reference to fundraising during Election campaigns.
- that my evidence at that Tribunal (cited by Mr Browne) related to the period before I became Party Leader (i.e. before December 1990). As regards fundraising outside election periods I said:
"I am not aware of any such seeking of funds during the period in which the Tribunal is concerned because I was not a trustee of the party at that time. I did not become a trustee of the party nor was I in any way concerned with, these national fundraising activities until I became leader of the party.
- that my evidence to the Beef Tribunal did not relate to the abnormal measures taken to deal with the Party's financial crisis in 1991 and 1994, which was outside the period being inquired into by the Beef Tribunal, as I indicated in the above quoted passage at that Tribunal.
For the sake of completeness I should say
(a) Fine Gael faced abnormal financial problems in the first half of 1991 and during the Summer of 1994.
(b) Most of the personal approaches which I made to business for funds (and to which I referred in my evidence to the Dunnes Tribunal this week) were made by me during 1994, not in 1991. - Yours etc.,
Taoiseach,
Government Buildings,
Dublin 2.