Sir, - I feel that the articles on the subject of my travels and the expenses incurred have totally misrepresented the situation. It is outrageous to denigrate me and the office of Lord Mayor by including my legitimate travel expenses in articles discussing the travels of other councillors. I should like to point out that the cost of my travel this year is £5,105 out of a total of over £26,000. I would also draw your attention to the fact that all journeys were approved in advance by the City Council as provided for by legislation.
I think that the whole question of travel abroad has been taken out of context considering that the corporation's total budget is £245.5 million and the amount allocated for foreign travel is £35,000 - less than 0.14 per cent of the total.
Since elected my first concern was to ensure that Dublin was highlighted and could be seen as the equal of any European capital. Accordingly, it was my policy to accept any invitation from important cities to obtain any possible advantage for the city, particularly with a view to business and tourism.
Since the beginning of the year I went to San Jose as a member of a group of nine elected representatives and one official to mark the 10th anniversary of the twinning with that city, particularly in view of the amount of business generated in the greater Dublin area in the computer/electronic industries. It was the City Council, not I, who decided on the number sent.
The other cities I visited were all capital cities where invitations were issued through diplomatic channels. On each of these visits my prime objective was to sell Dublin and I like to think from the responses I received that I have achieved some degree of success.
These cities were Jerusalem, Copenhagen, London and Beijing. The journey to Tokyo with two other councillors was to attend a conference on planning which is obviously of advantage to any local representative. I should like to express my appreciation publicly to the Department of An Taoiseach who assisted me in every way in my preparations to visit Japan and who arranged for an interpreter to accompany me while I was there. - Yours, etc.,
(Alderman)
Lord Mayor of Dublin.