Madam, - Over 50 years ago Irish politics saw the breakthrough of Clann na Poblachta, a radical, socialist republican movement, on paper not dissimilar to Sinn Féin, promising to create a just society and deliver a united Ireland. In 1948 it won 10 Dáil seats, mostly at the expense of Fianna Fáil, but at the next election Clann na Poblachta shrank back and Fianna Fáil recovered.
In 1982 Garret FitzGerald's Fine Gael captured 70 seats and nearly overtook Fianna Fáil as the largest party in the Dáil, but the tide went out again. In the mid-1980s the Progressive Democrats came on the scene promising to shake up Irish politics. In 1987 they captured 14 seats and a new political era was heralded, but again the tide turned and PD support faded.
Then in the early 1990s we had the Spring tide. Labour took 33 seats in the 1992 election and seemed within a whisker of eclipsing Fine Gael.
Now we are faced with a new tide, Sinn Féin. The party has more than doubled its number of local representatives and captured a European seat. History would seem to suggest that Fianna Fáil will recover and the Sinn Féin tide will recede. However, Clann na Poblachta, Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats and Labour did not have a private army to shore up their electoral gains by fear and intimidation, Sinn Féin does.
Behind the thin veil of respectable young candidates lurks the sinister and frightening reality of SF/IRA. The naïve fools who voted for Sinn Féin looking for change have opened a Pandora's box. The blood of over 3,000 civilians murdered in 30 years of civil war in the North now stains the chambers of county councils around this State.
All the main political parties must wake up to the danger of Sinn Féin, engage with the electorate, particularly in working-class areas, and honestly address the issues that concern the the people. Only then will the SF/IRA tide recede. - Yours etc.,
JAMES FITZPATRICK,
Old Bawn,
Dublin 24.
Madam, - We have just returned home from a great holiday in Ireland, taking in Waterford, Cork and the stunning ring of Kerry. It was great in every respect - except for the monumental act of vandalism that was the poster campaigning for last week's elections - unrelenting, post after post, tree after tree.
Staying at a guest house in Baltimore, Co Cork, we even had the image of the Sinn Féin candidate staring at us through our bedroom window: scary or what?
Why on earth do the Irish put up with it - every single person that I spoke to agreed that it was excessive, spoilt some of the best views in Ireland and was certainly distracting for drivers.
Add to this the fact that (with one or two notable exceptions) you seem to have the ugliest candidates in the world standing for public office and the case for restricting this activity becomes undeniable. - Yours, etc.,
BOB MIZEN,
Holt,
Wiltshire,
England.
Madam, - Now that the biggest poster election in the history of the State has ended, will the plastic ties be removed with the posters, as laid down under current anti-litter legislation? Or will they remain on the posts with those from the last election? - Yours, etc.,
DERMOT BARRETT,
Clyde Road,
Dublin 4.