Sir, – Jennifer Bray correctly asserts that the next big test for the Social Democrats will be the local and European elections. They need to “set an upbeat tone for the general election the following year” (“Social Democrats in battle for survival with several key tests on the horizon”, Analysis, September 7th).
It might help if they actually stood some candidates. Here in Donegal, neither Labour nor the Social Democrats stood a candidate in this five-seater constituency at the last general election. We of the “soft left” were left to choose between Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil.
While they won’t win here and probably wouldn’t even have the resources to campaign, giving people the opportunity of voting for the party of their choice would at least provide a platform on which to build membership and support, and enable first-time voters to get into the habit of voting for the Soc Dems.
When those voters move to college in Dublin, the party may need that vote to get someone over the line. – Yours, etc,
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KENNETH HARPER,
Burtonport,
Co Donegal.