Sir, - I write in response to your report of March 7th regarding the Lindsay Tribunal, in which it was stated that Professor Ian Temperley had received "hate mail" arising out of media coverage of his evidence. Horace comes to mind in the way in which the media have pursued the highly complex issues at stake:
"Those who hold that sins are largely the same are floored by real situations." (Satire 1.3). Why have the so-called quality media not sought to contextualise the events being investigated by the tribunal? The tragic sequelae for so many individuals occurred against the backdrop of the most savage cuts in the public health service ever seen in this country. Inadvertent transmission of viral infection via blood and blood products occurred in every country in the industrial world.
I would also ask why the various medical bodies who represent the medical profession do not issue statements which would help to contextualise at least some of the complexities, without of course in any way being seen to interfere with the necessary legal processes set in train by the Oireachtas. - Yours, etc.
Brenda Moore-McCann MB, BA (Mod), Church Avenue, Rathmines, Dublin 6.