LOOKS like the begrudgers could have the last laugh at the Bertie Hole.

Wojciech Blaska, Lombard Street West, Dublin 8.

The dreadful legacy of Charles J Haughey

CHARLES J Haughey should be remembered for all he has done for the people of his constituency of Dublin North Central, for the people of Ireland, for the people in his own party, for all he has done for his friends, and all he has done for people around the world.

1. Charles J Haughey stood in our kitchen and said he would get to the bottom of the circumstances surrounding the Stardust fire. He didn't.

2. Charles J Haughey left his legacy of "tribunals of investigations" behind him, supposedly to disclose rampant corruption, mostly within Fianna F�?il, costing the taxpayer millions more.

3. Charles J Haughey was handed "most" of the 1,615 questionable cheques presigned by the now Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, as Haughey's lifestyle cost the taxpayer £372,000 per year on his salary of £28,000 per year.

4. Charles J Haughey callously helped himself to the cash collected for his "friends'" medical bills, it is now revealed.

5. Charles J Haughey's "friends" are among the wealthiest in Ireland.

Developers, bankers and landbank owners, made rich by rezoning investigated in - yes - even more tribunals 6. Charles J Haughey, with "friend" Liam Traynor, in 1988 opened an Embassy in Baghdad to sell Saddam Hussein Irish beef to feed his Ba'ath Party. This was when the world knew Saddam Hussein was filling mass graves by murdering his own people with weapons sold to him by British and American arms traders. Innocent Iraqi civilians were not considered, overshadowed by profits from beef, which led - you guessed it - to another tribunal.

7. Charles J Haughey "gave" the pensioners "free travel".

This free travel was initially given during off-peak travel on city buses. I was of the opinion the public transport system belongs to the people of Ireland and not one man or party.

8. Charles J Haughey "gave" tax breaks to the likes of Bono and U2 who for years wouldn't even play in their own home.

Charles Haughey's legacy is to leave Bertie Ahern in charge.

1. The man says he is a socialist but favours building private fee-paying clinics on our public hospital property, as we all watch the public system go down in flames.

2. The new road infrastructure paid for by the tax-payers will remain in public hands - except for the part the toll plazas stand upon - 18 more across the country are planned.

3. The new peace deal for the North includes investment in business for the future - such as the making of parts for guided missiles recently used in the Israeli destruction of Lebanon. Children killed in Lebanon have had shrapnel removed from bodies with 'Ratheon-Derry NI' printed on the parts.

4. Infants, old folks and teenagers at risk, the most vulnerable in Irish society, are grossly abused by a system lacking leadership as we brag about our "wealth".

5. Suicide rates are the highest in Europe and yet no one has called it an epidemic.

6. Road deaths are the worst in Europe and they gave the job of solving it to Gay Byrne.

7. Shannon Airport has been a launchpad for Iraq. A million people are expected to have been killed by the fourth anniversary of this botched invasion and Fianna F�?il have said it would be considered "a hostile act" to even think of stopping this behaviour.

The future looks brighter than ever, if you listen to the politicians.

Paul O'Toole 11 Thorndale Park Artane, Dublin 5 Clarifying the facts of the report

REGARDING your report on 3 December, 'عdar�?s chief slams criticism of Euro185,000 contract', leaving aside my reservations about the choice of headline, there are a number of inaccuracies in attributions to me and two points in particular that need clarification.

My reference to 'political correctness being taken to extreme' was directed at certain aspects of the media coverage.

There was no question of the contract being 'secret' as described by your reporter.

NUIG took the initiative in recognising the suitability of the former chief executive of عdar�?s na Gaeltachta in garnering support for their strategic development plan which includes Gaeltacht outreach centres and the arrangement was common knowledge within both organisations and in this part of the world.

I did not, as stated in the report, have any direct discussions about this matter with the Controller and Auditor General, Mr John Purcell. However, in response to a question about involvement of the Controller and Auditor General, I advised your reporter that I have discussed the matter with an auditor from the C&AG's office who is conducting the normal annual audit at our offices at present.

P�?draig س hAol�?in, Chief Executive عdar�?s na Gaeltachta, Na Forbacha, Gaillimh

Some Christmas reading for Bertie

THE covert HSE Task Force which is planning the new highrise single Children's Hospital (possibly to be known as the Bertiepagoda) on the Mater site has decided that it will have only 380 beds - 16% fewer (my italics) than the 450/480 beds currently available in the three existing paediatric hospitals in Dublin which it will replace.

The same HSE told its own Board in October that there were 41,000 births in Ireland in the first eight months of 2006 - an increase (my italics) of 5.9% on its own estimates for the year.

Over the Christmas, maybe Ahern might decide to freeze this seriously flawed project and have it reviewed carefully and objectively by a small group of wise people, preferably residents of the actual Ireland and the Greater Dublin area. Otherwise he might find that its eccentricities - as currently conceived - will dog him throughout his third, fourth and fifth terms as Life Taoiseach.

Maurice O'Connell 19 Forge Park, Oakpark, Tralee, Co Kerry Homeowner's nightmare I HAD a dream, or rather a nightmare. Aggressive, callous intruders were attacking my home and trying to confiscate part of it. When I awoke, the raiders were unmasked as opportunistic politicians supported by devious advisers and self-appointed clerical begrudgers.

I am a senior citizen and longtime contributor to the state's copious coffers. For the sake of my peace of mind and health, I should not have read press accounts about health minister Harney's aegist plans to fund care of the elderly.

Sara Burke's balanced article (Comment/Analysis, Sunday Tribune 17 December), helped to restore my equanimity. Her informed insights and reasoned arguments contrasted with the superficial opinions of other commentators in the media.

Tony Quinn Dalkey, Co Dublin

Right to life outweighs property rights

THE outcome of the Padraig Nally case is very worrying. Those espousing an absolutist right to private property, which includes opportunistic politicians and farmer representatives, have rallied in support of McNally using his case to further their absolutist view. We have seen the destructive force unleashed in fascist Europe when that society placed the right to human life as subservient to the absolute state.

It seems that the jury in the McNally case placed the right to private property as an absolute value and unfortunately it failed to realise that unlimited lethal force in the defence of private property can never be justified and any so-called humanised society should not accept the erroneous criteria which apparently was used to acquit Nally.

Placing the right to human life as the only absolute human right is the foundation on which a decent human life in community guarantees a just society. All other rights including the right to private property must serve to promote the dignity of the human person without any discrimination.

Unfortunately the Nally jury has turned such a view of human living on its head. It was obviously influenced by the repeated emphasis on John Ward's past criminality and the whipped up fear of continued criminality in our society, especially in rural areas. Ward's memory demands justice from the grave .

Brendan Butler The Moorings, Malahide, Co Dublin