Sir, - Councillor John Minihan (February 23rd) of Cork signed his letter as national chairman, Progressive Democrats. This leads me to wonder whether he is expressing the agreed policy of the Progressive Democrat Party on Defence, or merely voicing his personal opinions on this topic.
If the former, given that the PDs are currently in Government, Cllr Minehan is engineering a Cabinet split. If the latter, Cllr Minehan's status as national chairman of the PDs is incidental, and he'd be better off signing simply as a councillor, or as a former member of the Defence Forces. It is misleading of him to give the impression that his views reflect those of the party which he currently has the honour to chair. - Yours, etc.,
Geraldine McCreary, Donabate, Co Dublin.