Sir, – Given the referendum maintaining the Seanad, your Political News Editor is ungracious, if not unwise, to describe it as an "elitist bastion with a tiny franchise" (Front page, October 7th). The voters rejected such dismissive assessments last week.
Perhaps they were more conscious than Arthur Beesley gives them credit for, that those who elect most of the Seanad, namely the local councillors, are themselves elected for that task by the great franchise of the electorate at large. This use of indirect voting through an electoral college is in perfect accord with our system of democracy.
Even the Taoiseach’s constitutional entitlement to nominate 11 senators also has democratic legitimacy – through the TDs from the general electorate. Think of him as a one-man electoral college! The only pity is that successive taoisigh have not used this entitlement to bring in many distinguished independents, rather than party loyalists, into the house. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL DRURY,
Avenue Louise,
Brussels,
Belgium.