Sir. The ramifications of the Ben Dunne payments are enormous, and one wonders where to begin. Bertie Ahern, John Bruton and Dick Spring have said that politics have been blackened; however there are many people involved in politics who resent this broad brushstroke. Let's be very clear; so far the political parties implicated in this mess are Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Labour.
I am a member of a political party that chooses to impose restrictions on donations. The Greens will not accept a donation greater than £1,000. Thus we do not create a situation where we are obliged to any particular group or individual. The Green Party relies on small donations from many supporters. As a spokesperson and candidate, I would love to have £1.1m to spend. Even £388,000 would do nicely, in fact £15,000 would be just fine.
The same choices were there for the established parties. They choose to act in an unethical way; they alone must pay the price. The fact that Ben Dunne gave monies to three different political parties is a clear demonstration of how interchangeable these parties, of supposedly widely differing ideologies, are. - Yours, etc.,
Spokesperson on Enterprise and Employment, Green Party, 16 Presentation Road, Galway.
PS: All donations to the above address.