Sir, - I find it amusing that Brendan Howlin thinks the Minister for justice is attempting to brush the McBrearty affair under the carpet until after the general election. Maybe the Minister shares the unbelievable optimism of the rest of the Government.
I mean, if we haven't noticed the lack of progress made on this awful affair then maybe we haven't notice the lack of progress in building (and maintaining) some decent roads, easing gridlock, and lessening the slaughter on the roads.
And we've hardly paid attention to the continuing demise of the health service, the serious deficiencies in education, the unchecked rise of both racism and the conditions which nurture it.
Indeed our blissful ignorance would probably even stretch to being unaware of the dangerous state of the country's rail network, and the inefficiencies of rail and bus services, be they urban or inter-city. With any luck nobody has twigged that construction of the Luas seems to involve no more than making small piles of gravel at strategic points around Dublin.
Now all that's needed is to deflect attention from overcrowded prisons, the continuing housing crisis, the widening wealth gap and the continuing drug and crime problems in areas with zero facilities for local communities - not to mention the total lack of urban planning evident in every town and city throughout the country.
Now if we can just find a big enough carpet to sweep all this under, we can look forward to another glorious term of the non-government we've become accustomed to. - Yours, etc.,
Bill Murphy, Crumlin, Dublin 12.