From SEAN LYDON
Sir, - Regarding army claimants, it is obvious that an expensive public relations campaign is being organised, so that the official side can win by publicity what it cannot get through law. A number of TDs have poured scorn on the very idea of soldiers suing. I heard Mr Jim Mitchell on morning radio; he was totally out of order. A number of media starlets, some of them with impressive suing records, have joined the TDs.
These efforts to intimidate the judges seem to have been ignored by other politicians and by the media. Can anyone imagine such intimidatory efforts being ignored in, say, the case of the Hepatitis C women?
The Dail Committee on Public Accounts, is not a court of law, awarding damages. It is there, I believe, to try to find out why certain things happened. It should try to find out why there was official negligence.
Instead, some members of it are castigating litigants for exercising their rights.
A Mr G. V. Wright is quoted in your columns as suggesting that Mr Michael Bell TD should not contribute to the committee regarding army deafness. Why should Mr Bell step down? He is, as far as is known, the only member of An Dail who has direct experience of this matter. He will not be able to adjudicate on his own case; he has declared his interest.
I feel that Mr Bell should be there to inform the committee on what happened. It is clear that the officials cannot face the 'appalling vista' of admitting that they could be wrong.
If Mr Bell is removed from this committee, or if he is prevented from contributing, on the issue of army deafness, every farmer, lawyer, auctioneer, publican, etc. in Dail Eireann, should absent himself, whenever matters of which he has experience are being discussed. - Yours, etc.,
Firgrove Gardens, Bishopstown, Cork.