Madam, - One can't help suspecting that Michael McDowell's silence last Thursday, and the ensuing flurry of "crisis" meetings, was orchestrated deliberately to create the impression that the only unresolved issue with the Bertie Ahern payments affair was now the relationship between the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach.
Craftily stage-managed, it has taken the focus off the real core of the matter - the receipt of payments by Mr Ahern - and positioned the PDs and Fianna Fáil to stay in power for the good of the country and the completion of the programme of government.
We should all get down on our knees and be thankful! - Yours, etc,
PAUL O'MAHONY, Belgrave Square, Dublin 6.
Madam, - Stephen Collins's criticisms of the Progressive Democrats' role in the recent Bertie Ahern payments debacle are wide of the mark (Opinion & Analysis, October 6th). According to Mr Collins, "the PDs have now been tied into Mr Ahern's definition of acceptable standards of behaviour in public life". This is entirely incorrect.
Coalitions by their very nature involve some degree of compromise and political parties have to learn to live with their coalition partners' weaknesses as well as their strengths.
Mr Ahern's financial arrangements in the early 1990s were highly irregular and by his own Dáil admission constituted a "misjudgment", albeit one that did not break the law or the relevant code of conduct of the day. By insisting that the Taoiseach offer the Dáil a full account of the circumstances in which he received payments in the early 1990s, the Tánaiste has provided a calming influence at the Cabinet table.
Collapsing the most successful coalition in the history of the State is not a decision that should be taken lightly. And as Mr McDowell correctly pointed out, any response to the behaviour of his senior coalition partner needed to be proportionate.
Undoubtedly, standards have changed since 1993 when Bertie Ahern served as Finance Minister in a coalition with Labour. There is no possibility that the PDs would accept such practices from their current coalition partners. How ironic that Pat Rabbitte should criticise the Tánaiste for his reasonable and measured response to the Taoiseach's errors when it was Labour that shared a Cabinet table with Bertie Ahern during the relevant period.
The Progressive Democrats' presence in Government has brought a badly needed transparency to the events of that period. Undoubtedly Mr Ahern was wrong to engage in the events of 1993 but no career, no matter how successful, is free from the dangers of human error.
Congratulations to Mr McDowell for rising above the noisy rabble to provide a stable and cohesive Government which is vital for a stable and cohesive economy. - Yours, etc,
BRIAN GEOGHEGAN, Temple Manor Grove, Dublin 12.
Madam, - Having abandoned the high moral ground so shamelessly of late, should the PDs not now do the decent thing and regularise their long-standing relationship with Fianna Fáil? The couple have, after all, shared the same bed for almost 10 years and, despite the odd little spat, there is now no obvious impediment to the proper marriage of the happy duo.
Such a merger would bring to a welcome end the embarrassing farce daily acted out in the Dáil and remove the need for any repeat pole-climbing election campaign stunts by Mr McDowell. More importantly, it would allow this tired, clapped-out Government to get on with the seriously urgent business of doling out electoral largesse without distraction in the run-up to the next election.
We do not yet know if this will meet with the same success as in 2002. What is more certain, however, is that in 2007 the electorate will get the Government it deserves. - Yours, etc,
PJ MCDERMOTT, Westport, Co Mayo.