Sir, - On arriving at the polling booth last week I was more than surprised, having been handed a voting paper for the presidential election, to be asked if I wished to vote in the referendum! The same question was addressed to all served by this particular clerk, apparently on the instructions of a superior officer.
Note that it wasn't the reverse: did I wish to vote in the presidential election? It could very well be that in view of the goings-on in recent years in the political life of this country I was in fact more interested in the referendum voting paper.
This experience at the polling booth would appear to support the validity of the criticisms in the media and by the public of the scant attention given by politicians, with a few notable exceptions, to informing the electorate of the raison d'etre of this referendum. - Yours, etc.,
From Alf Rhatigan
Mountainview Road, Dublin 6.