Sir, - I'm sure that Bart Cronin, press officer of the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation, thought he was impressing people in announcing that his Department were providing the FAI with £18,750 for the Under-21 team, £25,000 for the Under-18 team and £40,000 for youth and junior international teams - a grand total of £84,000 for hundreds of clubs and thousands of young players!
Unfortunately for Bart, these sums are a mere bagatelle compared with the recent "expenses" claims by Bertie Ahern of £39,151 (including £3,603 for make-up!), £40,147 for David Andrews and £16,360 for Jim McDaid, our Minister for Sport - totalling £95,658!
The problem, of course, is that all the money raised by the National Lottery - originally promised to support sports and the arts - has been hijacked by the politicians for themselves! So please Bart, no more pathetic little offerings - take your sticky fingers off our Lottery money and provide proper support for all sports - a new National Stadium and a 50-meter pool for a start! - Yours, etc., Barry McHugh
Stoney Road, Dublin 14.