Sir - The desire of the Government Press Secretary, Joe Lennon, to come to the defence of his beleaguered Taoiseach (April 19th) is understandable, but he is not entitled to take liberties with the facts.
What Ruairi Quinn asked the Taoiseach about on a number of occasions on the Dail Order of Business was the letter of apology or regret which the public was given to understand the Taxing Master, Mr James Flynn, had written following the reaction to his totally ill-considered, unjustified and unwarranted attacks on tribunals of inquiry established by the Oireachtas.
What Mr Quinn was provided with was a copy of the judgment given by Mr Flynn on the Haughey costs. Appended to it was a three-sentence statement from Mr Flynn. The first sentence expressed concern about the interpretation of his remarks. The second acknowledged the entitlement of the Oireachtas to establish tribunals. The final sentence said he never intended to impugn members of the Judiciary.
No apology. No regret. To put it bluntly: the Government has allowed Mr Flynn to get away with it. - Yours, etc.,
Tom Butler, Press Director, The Labour Party, Dublin 2.