Wigmore - Seamus Brennan, Liam Nolan, the Knights of Columbanus

THE KNIGHTS of Columbanus were active overtly and covertly during the course of the election campaign. We received an anonymous note saying that the organisation's headquarters had sent directives to its members on how to vote, singling out a number of outgoing TDs for special attention. We visited the offices of the Knights and enquired at the reception area if we could have a copy of the circular issued to members in connection with the general election.

The receptionist said "certainly" and went off to procure a copy. She hesiitated before doing so and enquired if we were members. When informed that we were journalists she rushed off and returned with Mr. Dermot Moore, the Grand Secretary of the orrganisation. Mr. Moore refused to state if any circular had been issued to its members in connection with the general election. He refused to allow us to see recent circular letters to members or even the headings on cirrcular letters. He acknowledged that the Knights had been in touch with each of the political parties but reefused to give us a copy of the letters sent. Subsequently, the Supreme Knight of the organisation, architect, Vincent Gallagher, refused to say if members had been circulated in connnection with the general election and again refused to divulge the contents of the letter sent to the political parrties. A few days later we received in the post from the Knights' head office copies of the letters they had sent to the political parties and the replies where available. The letter to the political parties simply asked the parrties to state their vows on contracepption, divorce, abortion, euthanasia as well as unemployment and violence.

The replies were predictable. But as the circular to the membership was distributed prior to the receipt of the replies from the political parties, one wonders what the point was in writing to the parties.

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SEAMUS Brennan, Niall Andrews and a few other worthy parliamentarians bleated on radio about how wrong Magill had been about their incomes and those of TDs generally. There is nothing that upsets our elected reppresentatives more than any reference to how much they earn and how unndeserved this is. They will tolerate almost any abuse bar that. The facts are that the average income of TDs is at least three times that of the average income of society as a whole. Our TDs are elected as parliamentarians but spend only about 87 days a year at this task - besides which, only a few of them actually make any contriibution to Parliament that is worth remarking upon. The expenses that they incur have entirely to do with the debasement of their role - their work as constituency messengers. If they choose to waste their time at this they should not expect to be. recompensed for it. The only point of constituency service is to ensure the re-election of TDs - it has nothing to do with servving any public good. If this costs them half their salary. then too bad.

DOES ANYBODY know what Seamus Brennan stands for politically - other than his own self-advancement? He has never once expressed a view which comes down decisively on one side or the other of any crucial political issue.

He purports to be very concerned about the plight of our young popuulation - and, incidentally, he almost always gets the percentages in any of the younger age groups wrong - yet he has never once managed to come up with any suggestion as to how their problems might be alleviated which involves any hard political choices.

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WE DID not have the pleasure of hearing Dr. Bill Loughnane's commments on The Magill Book of Irish Politics but we gather that part of his remarks had to do with us being wrong about the absence of a republican vote in Clare. There is no mention good or bad about a republican vote in Clare in The Magill Book of Irish Politics. In spite of that, we welcome the retion of an honest, straightforward TD in the person of Dr. Loughnane.

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SOMETHING must be done about this man Liam Nolan. In the course of the post-Triple Crown match interviews on television he managed to ask a series of cringing questions of unsuspecting innterviewees. These included "Do you feel humbled by all this?, Could you analyse your innermost feelings for us on this occasion? ," etc. Perhaps one of the political parties could be perrsuaded to run him for the Dail in the next election, thereby ensuring that he would be removed from the airrwaves. Come to think of it, that clever ploy back-fired in the case of Liam o Murchu, so perhaps not.