Sir, - The Supreme Courts refusal of Mr George Redmond's application to have Mr James Gogarty's affidavit to the Flood Tribunal heard in private session must come perilously close to the erosion of the individual's right to privacy and should set alarm bells ringing.
Mr Redmond claims that the allegations in Mr Colgan's affidavit are false. They are now to be aired and debated in the full glare of publicity in a forum which is "not administering justice" (David Gwynn Morgan, The Irish Times, January 7th).
The justification for this procedure is that the common good outweighs the rights of the individual to privacy. But is the "common good" better served by depriving him Mr Redmond to his right to privacy? He is not refusing the information contained in the affidavit to the tribunal; therefore the tribunal is not disadvantaged, nor is the State, nor the common good - unless for the sake of the common good we require a "show" which ultimately may prove very expensive for our rights as citizens. History has lessons for us. - Yours, etc., Gerard Cashin,
Willow Park Drive, Dublin 11.