This is doubly dangerous when ministers not only do so but also believe nobody else is capable of rational thought and sensible analysis.

During a recent visit to Colombo I happened to watch a television programme called "Jana Handa", a panel discussion which that evening featured Lands Minister Rajitha Senaratne; a well-known Buddhist thera; and representatives of the Peoples Alliance and the Sihala Urumaya.

Besides trying to monopolise the limited time with seemingly endless talk, the loquacious minister castigated the Sihala Urumaya for taking seriously the comments and analyses of Colombo-based foreign correspondents, two of whom he named.

While blithely accusing a panel member of the unthinking acceptance of other's views, the good dentist left viewers wondering what on earth he was talking about.

Having chastised his fellow panelist, Dr Senaratne then went on to pontificate on internal conflicts that have been resolved through negotiation and how some of the parties to the conflict have entered mainstream politics.

Among the examples he cited was Northern Ireland, where according to the learned dentist, a long-standing conflict has been ended through negotiation, apparently referring to the Good Friday agreement.

Dr. Senaratne presents an interesting logic. He admonishes others for listening to or accepting the observations of foreign correspondents.

But he wants the public to accept his own views on such matters as conflict resolution as though they were gospel, irrefutable and the last word on the subject.

Dr Senaratne is entitled to his own egotistical views of himself and his expertise in the field of international affairs. That is his problem. But it becomes a matter of general concern when he tries to foist on an unsuspecting public, wrong and incorrect information in the guise of expert knowledge.

A public burdened with a burgeoning cost of living and struggling to make ends meet is hardly inclined to be particularly concerned with Northern Ireland, East Timor or Mindanao. They have enough problems as it is to be overly concerned with what goes on elsewhere unless it happens to impinge on their own lives.

Therefore it behoves ministers, especially those ministers who venture outside their own areas of competence or portfolios, to acquaint themselves with factual information before they open their mouths.

It might be recalled that the same Dr Senaratne, having spent a few days in London a couple of months ago, reportedly told his cabinet colleagues in Colombo that Sri Lankans in the UK were ignorant of what was going on back home.

The result of the dear doctor's complaint to his colleagues was that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe asked Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando to do something to ensure that the ignorant in the UK were kept informed of what was happening and Minister Fernando in turn had reportedly said the foreign ministry's publicity arm will be revamped .

Some Sri Lankans here are under the impression that it is in pursuit of this policy of keeping them informed that the foreign ministry in Colombo decided to despatch post haste 13 persons from home, including drivers, to the High Commission here, doubling staff-for some months at least- and costing the Sri Lankan tax payers an extra £ 10,000 or so a month.

One cannot fault Dr Senaratne for this fiasco. But if his assessment of the Northern Ireland situation was made during that same visit to London, then it is even more erroneous than his view that Sri Lankans here were ill-informed because he was at the butt end of some penetrating questions on the peace process and his replies only added to their scepticism.

Over 50 years ago Cleveland Amory wrote in "Conversation": "You can't make the Duchess of Windsor into Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. The facts of life are very stubborn things".

Dr. Senaratne was trying to do precisely what Cleveland Amory warned against. At the time that he was holding up the Northern Ireland peace process for public adulation, protagonists to that conflict were complaining bitterly about the increasing violence.

In fact persistent complaints by Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble, Northern Ireland's First Minister forced Prime Minister Tony Blair to take serious note of the deteriorating situation and threaten tough action.

It is this upsurge in violence involving loyalist and republican paramilitaries that led to a meeting early this month in Hillsborough Castle, Northern Ireland, between British Prime Minister Tony Blair, his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern and the leaders of the main parties to the conflict.

Dr. Senaratne seems to be blissfully unaware that this violence by paramilitaries on either side of the Northern Ireland conflict is threatening to blow apart the peace process as David Trimble has already indicated.

Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith wrote to Mr Blair the other day challenging him to say whether the ceasefire was "complete and unequivocal" as required by the Good Friday agreement.

I might trust my molars and pre-molars to dentist Senaratne's care. But I would hesitate to accept his assessments on some other issues- Northern Ireland, for instance.

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