I AGREE wholeheartedly with Fergus Finlay’s contention (June 7) that we should not be drawn into a discussion which places different groups of disadvantaged people in direct competition with one another for assistance, as appeared to be the case in recent television and radio debates where the plight of Irish carers was contrasted with the almost €700 million the Government spends annually on overseas development assistance.

REPORTS that China is poised to invest as much as $10 billion in Zimbabwe are very disturbing, but unfortunately they come as no surprise.

IT IS heartening to see that Haiti’s monstrous former dictator, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, has failed, thus far at least, in his sleight-of-hand attempt to gain access to the millions of dollars he has stashed away in currently-frozen Swiss bank accounts. Instead, he is facing serious criminal charges in Haiti.