Sir - Given that you have rehashed the Sunday Independent story that I "threatened to expose" Mr Michael McDowell TD for seeking a political funding contribution from me, and given that "Drapier" had a swipe at me on Saturday last I hope you'll give me this right of reply.
First things first. I did receive a letter requesting a contribution to McDowell's constituency funds. Michael says he didn't send it and I accept that. I had seen nothing wrong or unusual about the letter. I am a constituent of Michael's. If I had any intention of ever going public on this, common sense suggests that I would have filed the letter away carefully. In reality I saw it as just another fund raising letter, albeit one on behalf of a local public representative I admired.
A fortnight or so later, having read Michael's views on IRTC board members and political fund raising, inevitably I wondered what would have happened if I had contributed to his constituency funds. Two ironic images came to mind - Michael publicly calling for his own resignation and Geraldine Kennedy writing a "PD/IRTC fund raising scandal" story.
I really felt the need to know where Michael drew the line between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour for State board members. So I wrote a personal letter to my local TD. My questions to him are now a matter of public record because he went public on them.
When Michael got my letter he read it as a threat to expose him in some way, rather than take it for what it was a good humoured sincere request for private answers to my real questions. He rushed to the newspapers.
Michael McDowell, in the way he responded to me, lacked a sense of proportion, a sense of humour and, unfortunately for me as a constituent, a sense of fair play. Michael claims to worry about the compromising of "quasi judicial" figures like myself and the politicising of the IRTC. The evidence of the way in which he has dealt so far with my letter would seem to contradict his stated concern. - Yours, etc.,
Rathgar,
Dublin 6.