IN HIS review of the book Judging Dev by Dr Diarmaid Ferriter (Review, 14 October), Kevin Rafter rightly describes this book as a fascinating work and a resounding success for both the author and his publisher, the Royal Irish Academy.

Rafter goes on to point out that Ferriter does not make any linkage between de Valera's concerns about the adequacy of his pension in 1973 and Noel Browne's allegations in the Dail in 1959 when he was Taoiseach.

The following explains why there is in fact no linkage.

Ferriter quotes from Browne's autobiography where he repeated his allegations first made in the Dail on 14 January 1959 that, a) de Valera had systematically become the majority shareholder in Irish Press Limited, b) the price paid to shareholders was nominal and c) de Valera was now a very wealthy newspaper tycoon. Ferriter then goes on to state that Browne "alleged that since 1929 de Valera and his son Vivion had bought over 90,000 shares in the company" and then quotes John Horgan, the former Labour Party TD, as stating that the undisputed fact was that his shareholding was "itself worth a very large sum of money". The reader is left to believe that these allegations were true and that "de Valera and his son Vivion" had acquired a very large personal shareholding.

Browne made these allegations regarding the acquisition of shares in his closing speech at the end of the debate when the Taoiseach had no opportunity to reply in the Dail.

The Taoiseach wrote to the newspapers and his letter was published the following morning, 15 January 1959, in all three Dublin newspapers. The text of his letter was as follows:

Dail Eireann 14 Eanair 1959 Sir . . . At a late hour tonight when there was no opportunity of replying in the Dail, Dr Browne made a series of personal charges against me which time now permits me to deal with only in brief.

I have not and never had any beneficial interest in shares in Irish Press Ltd. , other than a few hundred personal shares. The block of ninety odd thousand shares to which Dr Browne has referred is held by me and my son, Vivion de Valera, on behalf of the persons who subscribed the money and to whom any dividends or other profits on these shares must be paid. Financial benefit or profit, either as to capital or dividends, has not accrued and cannot possibly at any time accrue to me or any member of my family in respect of those shares. They are held, as I have publicly stated, to ensure that the purposes for which the money was subscribed will not be departed from. We hold no other block of shares, as Dr Browne suggests.

Dr Browne's allegation that we have been engaged in a process of acquiring shares at reduced rates or that we have so built up a large holding of shares is completely untrue.

Yours faithfully, Eamon de Valera

THERE were and are no records in the Irish Press Plc (Limited) register of members to support Browne's allegations.

Ferriter did not refer to this letter or the Taoiseach's denial in his book. Furthermore, his account of the Dail debate is misleading and not in accord with the official Dail record.

Browne's motion in the Dail on 12 December 1958 sought to censure the Taoiseach for continuing to hold the position of Controlling Director of Irish Press Limited while he was Taoiseach and concealing this from the Dail. The Taoiseach replied at length that same day and continued after an adjournment on 7 January 1959. Ferriter's assertion that de Valera "left the Dail chamber shortly after the debate on Browne's motion began, leaving Sean MacEntee to make the case for the defence" is simply untrue.

MacEntee did not speak until after General Mulcahy and Mr Norton had spoken on 7 January. As stated above, Browne's allegations regarding shares were not made until he closed the debate on 14 January 1959.

It is a matter of opinion whether the Taoiseach's reply on 12 December and 7 January was convincing or not, but he could not be expected to respond to allegations which were not made until 14 January!

As stated in the Taoiseach's letter, he held approximately 90,000 shares in trust with his son. When the time came for him to retire as trustee, Sean Nunan, who by then had retired from many years in the Department of External Affairs, was appointed a trustee in his place.

Nunan was not related in any way to the de Valera family.

It seems to me that Ferriter, in dealing with this matter, has fallen into the trap of relying on secondary sources of dubious value which is out of keeping with his treatment of almost everything else where he seeks to ground his commentary on the primary documents. The result is to mislead readers and perpetuate a lie that has gained increased currency recently.

RTE in its television documentary on de Valera and the Irish Press presented Browne's allegations as the truth and avoided the Taoiseach's letter when it showed the report of the Dail debate as it appeared in the Irish Press of 15 January 1959.

Eamon de Valera, 25 Merrion Square, Dublin 2

Catholic Church needs more than fresh air

From Seamus McKenna

WHILE THE thrust of your lead editorial (14 October) is accurate, that Dr Diarmuid Martin is a good and courageous man, the headline is misleading. Nobody can blow a breath of fresh air through the Catholic Church, in Ireland or anywhere else. It is, in fact, our tragedy that people such as Dr Martin should be constrained to defend de-facto segregated primary education, which is what we have under the archaic patro -nage system in this country, by his senior position within such an uncompromising religion.

Seamus McKenna, 35a Farrenboley Park, Windy Arbour, Dublin

It's Irish rugby, not Irish Republic rugby

From David McKeown, Ardenlee Parade, Belfast

Suggestions for new National Anthem From Peter Pallas Peter Pallas, 4 Creggaun House, Ennis, Co Clare.

AFTER watching the French destroy any chance of reading the Sunday papers without wanting to stick my fingers down my throat, I thought I'd try and escape the over-excited English press reviews by buying the paper with as little as possible about the Rugby World Cup in it.

Oh dear, what did I run into now! 'Ireland's call is not our National Anthem etc etc etc.'

Here we go again . . . it's almost as boring as listening to people say Ulster Scotch is a language.

Irish Rugby is not the Irish Republic Rugby Union. It is a sport that has bridged all shapes and colours to play together as a team, yes, even members of the Orange Order have played for Ireland, but probably not for a Republic of Ireland team that some of your letter-writers seem to think exists.

Are we really to believe that the dire showing by the welltrained Irish team is due to the wrong song being played?

National anthems are nothing more than a poor man's Eurovision Song Contest and should all be stopped before we die of boredom. How many times must we watch the camera pan along the faces of players either standing tightlipped or mumble a few words of a pointless dirge while just wanting to get on with the game.

Yes by all means play The Soldier's Song when in Dublin.

When it was played in the late '70s/early '80s, when over half the squad were Ulstermen, did any one of those players say "I don't like that song, don't play it." No . . . they just wanted to play the game.

U2 tower breaks all known planning laws From Fergal Ryan IT IS astonishing that the new U2 tower in Dublin's docklands can go ahead without planning permission.

The new tower breaks one of the fundamental tenets of architecture . . . the positive relationship of a structure to its environment. This tower will completely dominate and overshadow its surrounding area in an architectural style that bears no relation to Dublin's architecture, old or new.

I am inclined to agree with its critics that it is little more than an ego trip for those involved . . . a vulgar, crass statement by developers and pop stars who know little better, but who should not be allowed to bypass the planning process and wreck our capital city's skyline.

Fergal Ryan, 178 St Brendan's Road, Dublin 12.