MINISTER'S REACTION

Sir - I was intrigued at the reaction of Minister Proinsias de Rossa when he was called "a liar" by a member of the Opposition…

Sir - I was intrigued at the reaction of Minister Proinsias de Rossa when he was called "a liar" by a member of the Opposition in Dail Eireann on Thursday. Hem reacted very angrily indeed. "That man must withdraw that remark", he repeated, "Ceannn Comhairle, I insist that he withdraw that remark".

Readers and viewers will recall that Minister de Rossa accused me of "lies and deceit" at a press conference, on the divorce referendum on November 20th, 1995. He was referring to a statistic quoted by me in a Pastoral Letter to my people. He has never withdrawn the accusation even though I told him publically that his accusation was false and that I felt greatly hurt by it.

Yours, etc

Archbishop of Cashel and Emly