Madam, – John Gillen (April 29th) is not alone in being surprised at the agility of Mae Sexton to glide so comfortably from the Progressive Democrats to Labour? Others were surprised to witness Nessa Childers, Bronwen Maher and Killian Forde perform similar conversions from the Greens and Sinn Féin to Labour. Were they merely putting on new red shirts to enhance their own electoral careers or were they been genuinely converted to Labour values? There is a duty of care on the Labour Party to ensure that the heritage and principles of James Connolly are not debased, commodified or franchised as a flag of convenience.
Numbers do count in electoral politics, and talent should be recruited, but not with the appearance of abandoning principles and sacrificing core values. There is enough cynicism out there without adding to it. – Yours, etc,