Madam, - I attended the Mahon tribunal on Thursday as a member of the public and was briefly interviewed by RTÉ, regarding my impressions of the days events, for Six-One News. I mentioned that, although I supported the work of the tribunal, I felt that seeing in the flesh the Taoiseach, or indeed any citizen, having his personal accounts trawled through was "grubby".
My comments were later used on radio by Galway West TD Frank Fahey as evidence of an unease among the general public at tribunal's workings.
The irony is that, although unpleasant to watch, I feel the line of questioning of Bertie Ahern is entirely valid, and that his explanations so far have appeared to me entirely unsatisfactory. The primary reason this "grubby" episode is taking place in Dublin Castle is because Bertie Ahern failed to deal with many matters satisfactorily at preliminary inquiry stage.
The mistake I suppose I made was in thinking that the words "I support the tribunal" would be treated literally. As we know, in the finest traditions of de Valera, the proclamation of fidelity to the tribunal has become "an empty formula" for the average Fianna Fáil TD.
The moral of the story, for me at least, may be: look before you leap into a vox pop! - Yours, etc,
DONAL FITZPATRICK, Collins Square, Dublin 7.
Madam, - The Taoiseach is to address the joint Houses of Congress in Washington on April 30th and doubtless his scriptwriting team is already working on his his speech. Presumably it the same team that scripted his well received address to the joint Houses of Parliament at Westminster.
That speech drew on Greek mythology for an appropriate analogy for the Northern peace process, likening it to the toils of Sisyphus, who was condemned eternally to push a rock uphill, only for it to roll back down each time.
Did the speechwriters, or Bertie Ahern, ever suspect that poor Sisyphus would also provide a perfect analogy for the ongoing efforts of the Taoiseach to explain his financial dealings to the Mahon Tribunal?
I am awaiting with interest the mythological reference that will undoubtedly appear in the Washington speech. Pandora's Box, perhaps? - Yours, etc,
PETER MOLLOY, Haddington Park, Glenageary, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Until now, I really thought that members of the US administration were the world leaders in euphemisms for their unpleasant actions.
Phrases such as "collateral damage" , "friendly fire", "extraordinary rendition" and "blue-on-blue" are just a few examples of their anfractuous linguistic skills. But Bertie's "political donation for personal use" surely ranks with the best. - Yours, etc,
ROBERT COMYN, Rathgar, Dublin 6.
Madam, - On yesterday's Morning Ireland Martin Mansergh TD compared the Taoiseach's appearances at the Mahon tribunal to an aircraft in turbulence coming in to land safely.
Others would view it as a catastrophic crash-landing happening in (very) slow motion.
In the light of their sustained attacks on Mahon, it is clear that Fianna Fáil and its ministers are making a major error of political judgment and, as always, are placing their party ahead of the country.
It is also evident that the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats have no courage or convictions and lack any moral standards.
In the light of this, how can the electorate trust the Government's judgment on other matters such as the Lisbon Treaty or its competence to manage our slowing economy? - Yours, etc,
BRIAN FLANAGAN, Ardmeen Park, Blackrock, Co Dublin.
