Madam, - Like many other Irish people, I take responsibility for my actions as I know there will always be consequences. I wonder why I bother.
Having read in your newspaper last Saturday that the Taoiseach does not believe Dr Jim McDaid should resign and that Minister of State Brian Lenihan believes he should be "left in peace", I am once again very disillusioned by the stance of the current Government.
As a self-employed, law-abiding citizen, I would like Bertie Ahern to explain to me why I should continue to pay my taxes, obey speed limits, pay my waste charges, obey the rules of the road, obey the smoking ban, be courteous to people, be non-racist, set a good example to young people, etc, etc while leading figures behave irresponsibly.
Whether or not Mr McDaid is an alcoholic is irrelevant. the point is that he choose to drink knowing that he had had problems with alcohol in the past and then he acted extremely irresponsibly, probably as a result of the amount of alcohol he had consumed.
The only meaningful apology is Mr McDaid's resignation. - Yours, etc,
NORMA CAIRNS, York Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Madam, - A number of correspondents and columnists have called in recent days for the resignations of a Government Minister and of a TD. These calls are futile. We have seen over decades that nothing short of a block and tackle can dislodge a Fianna Fáil politician on a matter of honour, principle or shame. - Yours, etc,
HUGO BRADY BROWN, Stratford on Slaney, Co Wicklow.