Sir, - It's nice to know that Drapier is such a keen observer of fashion trends in Leinster House, even going so far as to find some oblique connection between the colour of my suit (white apparently, although I would have said cream) and the Green Party's presumed support for the Labour Party's private member's bill on corporate donations. Politics is complicated enough these days without Drapier attaching some political significance to the sartorial elegance, or otherwise, of Oireachtas members.
So let me simplify matters and perhaps even enlighten him. The Green Party was the first party to call for a complete ban on corporate and personal donations. We repeated this call following the revelations that Woodchester had contributed to Labour. There was no response from the Labour Party. However, the redoubtable Alan Dukes weighed in heavily on behalf of Fine Gael, contemptuously dismissing our proposals on Morning Ireland.
While the conversion of these parties to our ideas is welcome, they need not count on our support for any legislation which fudges the issue. Under the Labour Party's proposals, Frank Dunlop could continue to make "personal" donations to individuals and parties, albeit capped at certain amounts. There is also no provision for the capping of spending between elections, an oversight which permits Bertie Ahern to argue that personally rich individuals would have a political advantage.
Finally, recent statements from the Labour Party, drawing a distinction between legitimate election expenses and bribes, have in effect exonerated those who were in receipt of questionable payments and blunted the attack of the left wing opposition. Have they forgotten the convenient mantra of "no favours sought or given" or the McCracken Report, which concluded that the mere acceptance of such payments could compromise the individual?
The fashion-conscious Drapier should realise that as long as style takes precedence over substance in politics, corruption will always be in vogue. - Yours, etc.,
John Gormley, TD, Dail Eireann, Dublin 2.