Madam, - Nigel Cooke (October 9th) makes the serious charge that a number of Catholic lay organisations such as Opus Dei were "attempting to interfere in the making and execution of public policy" from within the Civil Service. He makes this serious allegation in the context of the heated debate about the compensation settlement between the State and religious organisations.
As regards Opus Dei, this allegation is complete rubbish. The Opus Dei prelature does not, and indeed cannot, get involved in any such matters.
If Mr Cooke has any information to show that specific public servants or organisations were attempting to interfere in this way, he should lodge his complaints with the appropriate authorities. - Yours, etc.,
PAUL HARMAN, Opus Dei Information Office, Hume Street, Dublin 2.
Madam, - Nigel P. Cooke asserts (October 9th) that, during his years of employment in the Irish civil service (1978-1990), a number of lay Catholic organisations were active, specifically "targeting" departments with responsibility for social policy.
Yet, judging by the direction that social policy took during those years and after, it would seem that whichever organisations were influential in this regard, it certainly was not the Catholic ones.
Furthermore, Mr Cooke says how appalled he was when a senior official at the Department of the Taoiseach declared at an official meeting that he was a "Catholic first and foremost, a public servant thereafter".
Is Mr Cooke unaware that all Christian denominations encourage their adherents to put their faith first in every sphere of life? Why single out only Catholics? Fair comment and criticism are to be welcomed always, but Mr Cooke's letter simply amounts to old-fashioned, anti-Catholic rant. - Yours, etc.,
Father RUAIRI O'DOMHNAILL, Naas, Co Kildare.