Professor Patrick Honohan:

I am not meant to say what happens in these instances but in this case it is fairly obvious. In the first instance, the idea of a letter was discussed by the governing council and I participated in that discussion way back then. I did not think it was a terribly good idea to send such a letter, but it was sent. I did not see a draft of the letter before it was sent; I saw it when it arrived.

Regarding more recent events, I participated in discussions on the matter and was strongly in favour of releasing the letters. I am generally strongly in favour of releasing things unless there is a good reason not to.