Sir, - The decision of Michael Noonan and Fine Gael to join the Labour Party in banning corporate donations must be welcomed by everyone without the money to buy political influence. For too long, both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have responded to stories of sleaze and corruption with occasional moralistic denouncements but little else. Such rhetoric comes across to voters as shallow and meaningless if it is not backed by political initiatives to end the corrupt practices which have led to such disillusion. That Michael Noonan has pledged to break the link between big business and favourable government decisions bodes well for Fine Gael's future.
Should Bertie Ahern and his Fianna Fail colleagues now fail to make a similar commitment, the choice before the electorate in the next general election will be stark: between an Opposition and alternative government determined to end the manner in which wealth can buy policy, and a Government too smug or too cosy to do likewise. - Yours, etc.,
Paul Gleeson, Fitzroy Street, London W1.