A chara, – An apt way to describe the actions of Mick Wallace: pink-collar crime. – Is mise,
Sir, – Having never before fully understood the phrase “moral hazard”, I now realise that Mick Wallace epitomises this condition. One hundred years ago he would be heading to a debtors prison, however today there appears to be no risk in borrowing: the taxpayer picks up the bill. I know we are where we are, the question is, how did we get here, and have we any future staying here? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Is there not one member of the Dáil that has the moral courage to stand up and loudly declare that in falsifying his tax returns Mick Wallace did wrong?
Oh, we are a sorry nation! No longer an island of saints and scholars we are now an island of cheats and liars. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Let us not kid ourselves. If Mick Wallace went for re-election tomorrow he would win hands down – just like Michael Lowry before him. And the Irish people would continue to blame the politicians for all their woes rather than the politicians’ masters. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – A garlic importer gets six years in prison for VAT irregularities; Mick Wallace gets to sit in the Dáil and pontificate to the rest of us. Democracy Irish-style. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I am astonished at the number of people – politicians and members of the public – who feel that Mick Wallace’s first loyalty is to his constituents.
Surely his first allegiance is to truth, honesty, and doing the right thing, even if it makes him unpopular with his constituents?
This attitude in Ireland about shades of right and wrong is what got us into the mess we are in now. If we keep electing politicians who think expediency comes before honesty and truth we will never get out of that mess.
It’s no wonder that so many bright, articulate capable people who would make wonderful public representatives, wouldn’t touch politics with a barge pole. It is why we still have a very small gene pool from which to choose the people we are relying on to make this country a place we and our children can be proud to call ours.
I agreed with every ironic word in Fintan O’Toole’s cry of despair (Opinion, June 12th).
Call me naive, but I want to be able to know that our politicians do not fiddle their expenses, the taxman or even the local supermarket by pocketing the winnings if the cashier gives them change of €50 instead of a €20 note.
I know a lot of people will die laughing at this concept but I live in hope that somehow there are enough people of integrity, and backbone to stand up for what is right: a simple concept we learn as early as learning to read.
I was sitting outside the school last Friday waiting for my daughter to come out of her Leaving Certificate and I began to text a politician who was on radio doing the usual obfuscation that politicians engage in when they haven’t the guts to say what is right and wrong. I stopped half way through because I realised that if someone in the second half- century of life does not know right from wrong, my text won’t make any difference. – Yours, etc,