Madam, - I feel I have to reply to the question in a letter to the Editor of The Irish Times on August 8th, asking if I had a vested interest in my comments on aid to Uganda. I travelled there to work with the mentally ill and with professionals in that area, at my own expense, paid for accommodation at my own expense, and received no financial support from any external source.
The Irish taxpayer will be reassured by John O'Shea's letter (August 16th) that there is no evidence of one euro of Irish aid money being misdirected. I was very surprised that John O'Shea did not comment on Dr Patricia Davy's letter (August 8th) that "much aid is wasted, even when delivered direct to NGOs". This comment must have alarmed the vast number of Irish people who give money very generously and without question to NGOs. - Yours, etc,
Prof MICHAEL FITZGERALD, Henry Marsh Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Trinity College, Dublin 2.