Lynch’s ‘leniency’ letter is product of the political system we favour

IN light of the embarrassing position Kathleen Lynch TD has found herself in after supplying a character reference for a rapist awaiting sentence, the decision by the Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore to urge his party’s TDs to exercise caution when supplying such letters is a sensible one.

But it will not make any difference unless all TDs agree to a particular code of conduct regarding such correspondence. It is no surprise that calls for Lynch’s resignation came from outside Leinster House and not inside.

At the beginning of 2007, when Fianna Fáil’s Tony Killeen got into trouble for petitioning for the early release of prisoners, including a murderer, there was a similar reluctance to demand that his head roll for the simple reason most politicians believe this is a grey area.