Minister For Justice

Sir, - I would like to take this opportunity to welcome John O'Donoghue back

Sir, - I would like to take this opportunity to welcome John O'Donoghue back. After a brief absence, coinciding with the Government decision to introduce a modicum of humanity into its policy regarding the right to work for asylum seekers, Mr O'Donoghue is back with gusto. Crime figures, a probation services report (which, as it happens, undermines the Minister's prison-places-for-all policy, but what the hell, carry on regardless), a new helicopter for the Garda - it seems that Mr O'Donoghue has plenty to say.

However, he still maintains an ascetic silence on the issue of the right to work for asylum seekers. Despite his rearguard action for the past two years, Mr O'Donoghue's policy was thankfully overruled at a recent Cabinet meeting. So irked was our Minister for Justice at this defeat that he disappeared from public view for the week.

Mr O'Donoghue has successfully distanced himself from one of the few humanitarian initiatives undertaken by this Government. His silence speaks volumes. - Yours, etc.,

Alan Sherry, Brookdale Grove, Swords, Co. Dublin.