Madam, - At some stage in the coming months, I will vote for the first time in a general election. Most of my friends will not. Some will tell me not to waste my time.
A rather depressing state of affairs, one might conclude. However, in the light of recent revelations about the activities of the Taoiseach, more reasonable than might otherwise be thought.
Mr Ahern received money from friends, which he did not repay nor pay any interest on. One must wonder how far he can reasonably stretch the definition of the word "loan".
Some of these friends later benefited from Mr Ahern's patronage. His defence? They were appointed to prominent positions not because they gave him money, but because they were his friends. A gift of several thousand pounds is certainly conducive to friendship, but even if they were all old friends, selecting them for posts on that basis is as sleazy an example of cronyism as can be imagined.
To cap it all, Mr Ahern decried as "off the wall" early reports of the amount of money involved, which (to your newspaper's credit) turned out to be accurate. The attitude, deplorable in a profession in which integrity should be essential, seems to be that the truth need only be told where no alternative presents itself.
With this in mind, disillusionment with the political classes is understandable. I begin to feel that I too should stay home on polling day and watch Samurai Jack, instead of voting for a selection of people more concerned with what the perks of office can do for them (and their friends) than with what they can achieve for the country.
So don't blame the cynicism of our youth; blame rather the cynicism of our politicians. - Yours, etc,
CONOR J MCKINNEY, Chestnut Road, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Was that "debt of honour" or "death of honour"? - Yours, etc,
DERVAL DUGGAN, Melrose Avenue, Dublin 3.
Madam, - Even the most hardened of cynics would find it difficult not to be amazed by the contents of last night's long-awaited statement in support of the Taoiseach from Tánaiste Michael McDowell.
His most eye-catching pronouncement was on the issue of the leak from the Mahon tribunal, where he condemned "the unlawful, very carefully timed, ill-motivated betrayal of confidence by someone with access to the papers of the tribunal" which led to "an unfounded series of private allegations of corruption" being levelled against the Taoiseach. He went on to say that the tribunal "risks becoming discredited and ineffective if by its processes it cannot prevent such abuses".
Mr McDowell's crocodile tears about the integrity of the justice system being undermined by leaks bring Progressive Democrat hypocrisy to a new and dizzying height. Was it not Mr McDowell himself who deliberately leaked Garda intelligence files on journalist Frank Connolly to a national newspaper? This in turn led to a series of unproven allegations against Mr Connolly which could have grave consequences for his own professional reputation.
Does the Minister for Justice think that leaks from his own Government Department are any less grave than leaks from a tribunal of inquiry? Is Frank Connolly somehow less entitled to his good reputation than Bertie Ahern is? Mr McDowell also explained the uncharacteristic silence of his party on this issue for most of the past week, which he said was "to afford the Taoiseach an opportunity to assemble the relevant information, ascertain his legal obligations and to account publicly for the facts".
Madam, one wonders why Messrs Lenihan and Haughey were not afforded a similar courtesy by the Progressive Democrats in the early 1990s. On those occasions, Mr McDowell and others in his party had demanded heads on silver platters almost as soon as the allegations had hit the news stands.
Unfortunately, it seems that we are a long way from those heady days, and it is many years since the air on the moral high ground got too thin for the Progressive Democrats. By once again defending the indefensible in a desperate attempt to cling to power, Mr McDowell has ensured that he and Mr Ahern will still be arm-in-arm when the barrel finally goes over the waterfall next May. - Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH, Brookfield Hall, Castletroy, Limerick.
Madam, - Surely this was never the "Bertie Bowl" the Taoiseach wanted us to see! - Yours, etc,
CIARAN WALSH, Kincora Drive, Dublin 3.
Madam, - I have voted for Fine Gael for 50 years but I will never vote for them again nor for any of the current Opposition parties. I am disgusted with their intrusion into the private life of the Taoiseach and their humiliation of him over an incident which happened 13 years ago, long before present-day standards and regulations were introduced.
Nothing has emerged to show that the friends of the Taoiseach who helped him at that time, even if some of them have served on State boards, profited as a result. If being appointed to a State board by a politician is a guarantee of benefit to the business or careers of those appointed, why are the Opposition not calling for investigations into all such appointments including those made by their own parties when in power? - Yours, etc,
MARY WALSH, Mount Prospect Avenue, Dublin 3.
Madam, - The whining, snivelling plea for mercy from the Taoiseach of this country was breathtaking in its hypocrisy. The excuse that the "relatively small amounts" he took don't equate to hundreds of thousands or millions that Charles Haughey, Ray Burke or Liam Lawler were paid, is utterly threadbare.
This is the man who required Burke to resign because he took £30,000 from friends; this is the man who required Ivor Callelly to resign because he got a paint job done on his house without paying for it; this is the man who, on several occasion declared how wrong it would be for a public office holder to accept money for his personal use.
How far does hypocrisy have to go before the public begin to accept that maybe Mr Ahern isn't quite as nice as his very carefully cultivated public image suggests? How plainer can it be made that this man is unfit for office?
And how about the rabid, righteous rottweiler of the PDs? If this were somebody else in a position of public trust, the Tánaiste would long ago have sunk his teeth in him or her. On this occasion, however, Mr McDowell's job is on the line as well as Mr Ahern's.
How much more despicable can politics get in this country? We need a general election - soon. - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL HANNON, Ballybough, Athy, Co Kildare.
Madam, - Following the recent revelations regarding the Taoiseach, Michael McDowell said nothing for two days.
Is this a record? - Yours, etc,
KEITH MARTIN, Island Street, Dublin 8.
Madam, - Everyone has the right to her or his good name; this is guaranteed under Section 40.2 of the Constitution.
I hold no special brief for the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern. However, is it not reprehensible that, for petty political advantage, his political opponents should have used confidential documents, leaked from a tribunal of inquiry set up by Dáil Éireann, to vilify him?
And is it not equally reprehensible that you, Madam Editor, should choose to publish them? Talk about moral rectitude? Shame on you! - Yours, etc,
EAMON O'DWYER, (Professor Emeritus), Galway.
Madam, - Has Bertie Ahern now joined the ranks of the Manchester martyrs? - Is mise,
TERESA O'BRIEN, Longstone Park, Portrane, Co Dublin.
Madam, - I have often wondered why Bertie Ahern as Taoiseach did not turn his face more firmly against ethical abuses and corruption within Fianna Fáil. Now I know the answer. He is not in a position to do so because he was himself ethically compromised, not only by his signing of blank cheques during the Haughey era but also by his acceptance while Minister for Finance of substantial sums of money from private benefactors.
When we have a Janus as Taoiseach what hope is there for open, honest and accountable politics?
The PDs, through their support for Mr Ahern on this issue, have rendered themselves politically redundant. Roll on the general election! - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL MEADE, Shantalla Road, Galway.
Madam, - I think what was said about our Taoiseach in your paper is undermining our legal system and I hope The Irish Times is successfully sued by the Mahon tribunal. How dare your paper undermine what our ancestors fought for? - Yours, etc,
DECLAN DEVER Jnr, Ballinrobe Road, Westport, Co Mayo.
Madam, - Did the "Twelve Benefactors" get a receipt? - Is mise,
NOREEN McSWEENEY, Baile Mhic Ire, Co Chorcaí.