Taoiseach, you have asked me to explain certain campaign contributions made to me by some dear, dear friends in the property business. They truly are dear friends, Taoiseach, and let me say here and now that they would, if asked, declare that I was a dear friend to have as well; a very dear friend indeed. It is the very integrity of that friendship which has enabled me to serve on the Dail Ethics Committee without, I feel, compromising the principles held so dear by me and the party I love.
But as you know, Taoiseach, better than many of us, elections are expensive things to run; and I freely accept that although I initially told the Deluge Inquiry that I had not received any campaign contributions from those parties involved in the Pitdale shopping centre, on mature reflection now I can say that there were trifling sums which were made available to me to defray the huge costs of political life. If I misled My Lord Justice Deluge on this, or the Dail, whose honour I would be the first to defend with the last molecule of my blood, or you, my beloved Taoiseach, whom I revere more than life itself, then I apologise from the bottom of a very contrite heart.
Buying pints
But, as you know, politicians not merely have to hold constituency surgeries and buy pints for all and sundry every time they enter a pub, and pay for their election costs, but they also have the honour of our party and our country to maintain. Let me say here and now, Taoiseach, that I regard it as a privilege to pay the full price of that honour. I want and seek no praise for my many little sacrifices, I trust so humbly made and discreetly done that they have escaped general notice.
'Tis well that 'twere so, for what price love of country if no price ever be asked? I seek no acclaim. If I have erred, Taoiseach, it is out of surfeit of love for this land; if I have done wrong, it was done in excess of duty. Patriotism is a stern master; and faith, I would not have it otherwise.
Now, as for the fifty grand that I got in the men's jacks at the Burlington. Taoiseach, every penny, every single penny is politically accountable. I swear on the souls of the Fianna and the quicklime graves of the men of 1916 that the £50,000 had no bearing whatsoever on my sponsoring a move to shift Lucan town centre from where it was meant to be to Pitdale. And Taoiseach, I swear that the £250,000 passed into my Swiss account after the vote was passed and which my Lord Justice Deluge has revealed - but which I would have declared anyway, as full well you know - why, Taoiseach, that had nothing whatever to do with the vote. The money was merely to cover the costs of a poster campaign for the forthcoming council election, Taoiseach.
Election expenses
No doubt some sniping critics in the gutter press will ask whether or not I declared these moneys to the Revenue Commissioners. Since when was it the Revenue Commissioners' business to investigate election expenses? Did they ever investigate the election expenses of Charles Haughey or Sean Lemass or Neil Blaney? So why are my election expenses to be the matter of public inquiry? Elections are costly and I am only too happy that some of my friends in the building industry know this. They are subsidising democracy; as such they are public servants who deserve to be praised.
So why should I not spend time with these people? Is there something wrong with going on a brief holiday - a few weeks, no more - in a modest resort in Thailand with men who are the backbone of our society? It is true that I have no receipts from my time there; but that does not mean they paid for everything, including champagne dinners every night, although I accept, on mature reflection, that my airfare was probably paid for by Peepglen Developments.
I solemnly assure you, Taoiseach, that this had nothing to do with my rezoning the Fingal Oak-forest national park for development. The forest park was full of old trees - it was an eyesore and an affront to modern Ireland and I make no apology that, on my initiative, the council voted to level it and rezone it for the construction of 5,000 houses.
Generous donation
That Peepglen were the developers of the site is neither here nor there; nor indeed was their gratifyingly generous donation to my election expenses of £100,000. It is true that shortly afterwards I moved into a 10-bedroom house built by Peepglen. This was merely to serve as election headquarters, just as the Mercedes was for election purposes also; and the heated outdoor swimming pool is just as much for my constituents as it is for my family. Am I to blame because my constituents have so much regard for my family's privacy that they never use it? Has it come to this, that a TD's and councillor's popularity among the electorate is to be held against him?
If so, this is a dark day for Irish democracy. Taoiseach, I have nothing to hide. Erin go bragh. Up the Republic. For what died the sons of Oisin? Is mise, Kevin Ethics Myers.