Madam, - Whatever the outcome of the Mahon tribunal, the subject of donations and dig-outs by circles of friends should make for a piece of good theatre in the near future. The tradition of Goldsmith and Sheridan is alive in the streets and in the inns of north Dublin judging by your report of December 13th.
Picture the scene: counterfeited amazement on the face of the Minister of Finance on being slipped a five-figure donation in a constituency pub - "a few pounds towards a deposit on a house". The man in charge of the most important Department of the State is represented as little more than a homeless person and not, as is the case, in receipt of a ministerial salary. Heaps of material here for a modern version of The Playboy or The School for Scandal. - Yours, etc,
JOHN F. FALLON, Boyle, Co Roscommon.