Sir, - The attempt by the Taoiseach in his letter today (May 1st) to explain away the complete contradiction between his sworn evidence at the Beef and Dunnes Tribunals regarding his role in party fundraising does not withstand even the most elementary scrutiny.
Any fairminded reading of what the Taoiseach said at the Beef Tribunal on June 22, 1992, when he sought to pretend that as Leader of Fine Gael he was at best only peripherally involved in party fundraising at national level, simply cannot be reconciled with what Mr Bruton admitted at this week's Dunnes Tribunal.
On Monday, at the Dunnes Tribunal, he made it clear that he was intimately and actively involved in leading the Party's national fundraising drive, in the year leading up to his June 22, 1992, evidence.
The question arises: Why did Mr Bruton not state as much when he was questioned under oath back in June, 1992?
Then in reply to the question: "Are you, as Leader, or other politicians within your Party, made aware of particular contributions made by a company or person", Mr Bruton began his response with a categoric "No".
A close reading of the transcript of the Beef Tribunal reveals that the Taoiseach's attempts now to suggest that this questioning related to the period before he became leader simply does not wash.
For instance, the question above posed to him was couched in the present tense, i.e. relating to the here and now of June, 1992, and it also asked him whether "as leader" he was aware of contributions.
Inexplicably, Mr Bruton chose to respond in the negative, and to deny what he had been up to as a Party fundraiser in the preceding twelve months.
The fatal flaw in Mr Bruton's defence is that he is trying to rewrite the actual evidence he gave, and the words he used, back in June 1992. The dilemma for him, of course, is that what he is now suggesting he said in June 1992 is not what he actually said at that time.
In matters as important as these, and in the giving of evidence under oath, Mr Bruton cannot be accorded an Alice in Wonderland pardon of being allowed to plead that words mean only what he retrospectively intends them to mean. - Yours, etc.,
TD Dail Eireann,
Dublin 2.