Madam, - As we taxpayers take our overpriced places in the dress circle for the latest legal extravaganza, courtesy of Judge Brian Curtin, it is depressing to reflect yet again on the absence of any sense of honour in Irish public life.
Judge Curtin is the latest in a long line of Irish public figures to resort to the Bart Simpson defence: I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, you can't prove anything. Did a single member of the Hierarchy resign over the clerical abuse scandals? No. Has any senior manager of AIB Bank resigned over the various administrative failures, disastrous business decisions or illegal activities since the ICI debacle in the 1980s? No. Has any cabinet member in recent memory voluntarily resigned over a major policy misjudgment or personal failing? No. Did anybody fall on his sword over the beef tribunal scandals? No. And meanwhile, in Dublin Castle, the high priest of brazen self-righteousness, Liam Lawlor, continues to amaze us daily with his lack of any sense of shame or contrition.
This national unwillingness of people at the top to take the ultimate responsibility for either personal failures or failures on their watch sends a simple message to society as a whole. The only important commandment is the 11th: thou shalt not get caught. And even if you do, don't worry, you can drag the affair out in the courts for years.
Cearbhall Ó'Dálaigh, we need you at this hour. - Yours, etc.,
FRANK E. BANNISTER, Morehampton Terrace, Dublin 4.