Madam, - Now, what are the next steps for Bertie's team? With an electoral slogan which sounded like the instructions of a dancing teacher, Fianna Fáil will soon waltz back into government for another five-year term. The voters have given a resounding "Yes" to the Labour Party's question "But, are you happy?", and they have answered the question "The PDs in Government?" with the loud retort "No thanks!".
We now have a situation where, if the next government completes its full term of office, one party will have been in power continuously for a quarter-of-a-century, barring a half-time break of three years. This state of affairs is manifestly bad for democracy.
We seem to be heading towards a state of affairs like that which existed in Mexico with the Institutional Revolutionary Party in power for 70 years and in Italy where the Christian Democrats ran the country for more than 40 years.
One of the cruellest, but truest, political observations is that each country gets the leaders it deserves. The next time I hear people in commuter belts complaining about traffic congestion and the lack of a proper transport system, or people ringing radio talk shows to give out about their long waits in A&E and their inability to get their children into overcrowded dilapidated classrooms, I have only one thing to say to them: the people have spoken and we deserve everything we get. - Yours, etc,
DAVID DOYLE, Gilford Park, Sandymount, Dublin 4.
Madam, - An extraordinary election. Fianna Fáil, Labour, the Greens and Sinn Féin all tread water and come back with roughly the same number of seats. Fine Gael gains 20 seats and yet Fianna Fáil is feted as the victors.
Having said all that, if you had told me 30 years ago that a government would effectively solve the Northern problem, the unemployment problem, the emigration problem, the foreign debt problem, and raise living standards to the highest levels in the world - and still fail to win by a landslide - I would not have believed you. How expectations change! - Yours, etc.
FRANK SCHNITTGER, Red Lane, Blessington, Co Wicklow.
Madam, - "One-party state? Yes, please!" - Yours, etc,
OLIVER McGRANE, Marley Avenue, Dublin 16.
Madam, - He loves Ireland and thanks the "Irish people" for the opportunity to represent them. Had another 2,319 people from the wealthiest and most narrowly stratified constituency in the country given Michael McDowell a first-preference vote, the "Irish people" would have once again been disproportionately represented by the Progressive Democrats. That even his own constituency failed him rubber stamps his political bankruptcy, something the rest of the country recognised years ago. - Yours, etc,
IVOR CROTTY, Moscow, Russia.
Madam, - It is very sad to see the only candidate to stand against consensus politics in Dublin South East lose his seat - Michael McDowell. Ní bheidh a leitheidh ann arís. - Yours, etc,
Dr MUIRIS BUCKLEY, The Gasworks, Dublin 4.
Madam, - I write this letter with a sense of disbelief, not because Michael McDowell failed to get re-elected, but because of the reception he received from some people at the RDS. Upon hearing the news that Mr McDowell was not to be re-elected a few simian hecklers started to chant, "Cheerio, cheerio, cheerio". I found this rather incredible.
Here was a man who (whether you agree with him or not) has poured his life into politics for the benefit of this country. He has been a credit to himself and his country in his political career. He has been the rigid backbone of Irish politics when we needed him most. His workload in regards to enacting and amending legislation has been second to none. As Mr Michael McDowell graciously said upon knowing his re-election was not to be: "This is a democratic country and I respect the people's choice."
I feel this respect should be mutual. We have been exceptionally lucky to have had such an upright, moral, intelligent man give so much to Irish politics in the past few years. I would like to thank Mr McDowell personally for his outstanding and inspirational contribution to Irish politics. - Yours, etc,
JOHN MATHEWS, Mather Road North, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Michael McDowell's resignation on the day of the count, before the result was complete, was the act of a spoilt child. He not only let his PD colleagues down but all those constituents who voted for him, this time and before. Shame on him. - Yours, etc,
CLAIRE MURPHY, Meadowbank, Dublin 6.
Madam, - On arrival at our usual polling station last Thursday, we discovered that the names of all four members of our family who had previously been registered were no longer on the electoral register. We were devastated to be so disenfranchised. Following a number of inquiries we discovered that our names had been removed. The recorded reason was we had "moved away".
We view with the utmost seriousness the fact that our constitutional right to vote had been withdrawn on the basis of someone's presumption or hearsay that we had moved without any effort to confirm if this was true. Surely, at a minimum, a letter or phone call was required. We view this not as a human error but as a serious systems failure. How robust is our democratic system if people can be "disappeared" from the electoral register with such disregard for their constitutional rights? - Yours, etc,
TOM and PATRICIA GALVIN, Air Hill, Clonmel, Co Tipperary.
Madam, - As centre-right parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael should now grab the bull by the horns to put aside allegiances that belong in the past and unite on a platform that deals with real 21st-century issues.
Thinly fabricated differences ensure the low level of debate we endure during elections. Inappropriately personal attacks and ideologically bereft, Suduko-like figure-shuffling reduce the electorate to scrabbling round in their pockets to find reasons to vote. No qualitative issues are discussed.
Are our children being educated to be uncritical of passive consumerism? Should we tolerate inequality of access to the health system? How can we participate in tackling the gaping international north-south divide? How, against the pressures of profit, can we reduce carbon emissions by the requisite 80 to 90 per cent within 40 years? - Yours, etc,
PENELOPE CARROLL, Blackrock, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Following the election count on radio and television over the weekend, I became increasingly irritated by the pundits, commentators, and party apparatchiks who reflected that candidates who were challenging outgoing deputies had "a hard ask". Would it be too hard an ask to ask your more erudite readers to let us know where this hard-ask terminology has come from? As they said in Tipperary in times past, I'm only axing - with no ask to grind. - Yours, etc,
DENIS FAHEY, Drumcondra, Dublin 9.
Madam, - Many of RTÉ's election reporters were saying that the election was "too close to call, until it gets down to the wire". Whom are they calling and what is the wire? This gibberish, probably from the US, may give our national TV station's journalists a feeling of sounding "cool". In reality, their inability to coin their own expressions conveys a lack of standards among RTÉ broadcasters whose salaries we pay as citizens.
As a nation of writers and poets we should expect better. - Yours, etc,
LEN PELAN, Castlesize Close, Sallins, Co Kildare.
Madam, - Michael McDowell expected a double-digit result for the PDs. He was correct - in Roman numerals. - Is mise,
Dr DAVID THORNTON, Dyke Road, Galway.
Madam, - I learned with great sadness that Joe Higgins had lost his seat. What were the people of Dublin West thinking? Who is going to make speeches about coming home from holiday to find the Taoiseach raiding his wardrobe and stealing his clothes? Who is going to compose letters about Paddy the Plasterer? The Dáil has lost a great character, but thankfully not its last socialist - Bertie's been re-elected. - Yours, etc,
NATASHA FITZMAURICE, Leix Road, Cabra, Dublin 7.