Sir, – It strikes me that the key phrase of the campaign is not “Keep the recovery going” but rather “I didn’t interrupt you”. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN AHERN,
Clonsilla,
Dublin 15.
Sir, – The seven-way debate is yet another step closer to the Americanisation of our political system. We already have two similar parties claiming to be incredibly different from each other, a bespectacled man speaking sense on finances and social democracy, not to mention those repetitive, irritable and innocuous slogans of national improvement. All we need now is a billionaire who has a near-omnipresent, controlling power over the media with a debatable hairstyle. Where would we get that, I wonder? – Yours, etc,
PAUL McCARRICK,
Athlone,
Co Westmeath.
Sir, – Another leaders’ debate has concluded without any reference to the most critical issue of our time, climate change. I’m sure the leaders participating in the debate have genuine opinions on climate change, both root causes and solutions, but it seems the facilitator, RTÉ, felt it did not merit any airtime. This despite the huge effort exerted in Paris towards the end of 2015 to reach an agreement to reduce the impact of long-term climate change. Maybe they felt the solution, which requires a move to a more sustainable economic model, might have proved too difficult a topic for the establishment parties and their acquiescence to the current unsustainable growth-based orthodoxy. – Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Blackrock,
Cork.
Sir, – Fine Gael’s handlers do not appear to be handling Enda too well. He stretches his arms out as though he was Our Saviour and then narrows them like a rugby referee to indicate that the team awarded a penalty is going to take a shot at the posts. And would he please leave the pen on the lectern! – Yours, etc,
OLIVER LOGAN,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – On looking at the RTÉ debate, I got the strong feeling that this country is on the brink of ungovernability. Now what could have happened in the past to cause such a state of affairs? To hear the leader of an organisation that caused misery and mayhem for nearly 40 years to presume to lecture on law and order is surreal. What moral vacuum could have caused so much of the electorate to care so little about basic principles of decency? – Yours, etc,
PADDY McEVOY,
Holywood,
Co Down.
Sir, – Having viewed the debate on RTÉ in its entirety, I was struck by the complete lack of interest displayed by all concerned in the many grave and far-reaching environmental problems faced by us today. There was no mention of global warming or climate change; not a word about resource depletion, energy security or carbon taxes; and not even a tokenistic nod in the direction of sustainable planning.
If Monday night’s debate is anything to go by, then I fear that, despite the harsh lessons of the past eight years, our political discourse has remained too narrowly focused on the short-term, to the detriment of our environment, upon which we all must ultimately depend for our survival. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN McCANN,
Lecturer in Mathematics,
Waterford Institute
of Technology.
Sir, – I’ve always voted Labour. But it does not seem to be running in this election. Where is the Labour Party that brought a marriage equality vote, and free third-level education? Where is the party that valued workers and that valued the economy as a way to build a society based in social justice?
With all other parties of the left more populist that socialist, there is a gap for this voting block. – Yours, etc,
Dr SHANE BERGIN,
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.
A chara, – John Rogers (February 13th) wonders what a merger of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would be called. How about Sinn Féin? That's what they used to be called. – Is mise,
LOMAN Ó LOINGSIGH,
Dublin 24.
Sir, – I’m so happy and confidant about the next five years. Judging from the various debates and election manifestos, no matter who I vote for, the next five years will give me everything! – Yours, etc,
VINCENT DEVLIN,
Dublin 15.
Sir, – Renua argues that parents should be held responsible for the criminal actions of their children; is this not the same policy operated by criminal gangs regarding drug debts? – Yours, etc,
RICHARD SCRIVEN,
Ballinlough,
Cork.
Sir, – Is Lucinda the leader of Fine Gaol? – Yours, etc,
RACHEL TUBRIDY,
Dublin 9.
Sir, – Despair is the only word that sums up one’s feelings seeing the leaders of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour squabbling. Did not Robert Burns get it right? “O wad some Power the gift tae gie us, to see oursels as ithers see us!” – Yours, etc,
JOHNNY COUCHMAN,
Carlow.
Sir, – Will those recently discovered cosmic ripples be felt in due course in our apparently ever expanding, ever diminishing fiscal space? Will the gravitational waves exert a powerful pull back to reality on our election candidates, adrift as they are on cloud nine and in seventh heaven with pre-election starry-eyed promises? Or will the earthly effects only be felt by the electorate many months after the event which first gave rise to them? – Yours, etc,
PATRICIA MULKEEN,
Ballinfull,
Co Sligo.
Sir, – Who fears to speak of mental health? Yet it affects so many families. – Yours, etc,
PAUL DORAN,
Clondalkin,
Dublin 22.
A chara, – Michael D. Lawlor (February 13th) is critical of Sinn Féin's manifesto and in particular the fairness of abolishing the local property tax (February 13th).
It has been a long-standing commitment of Sinn Féin to abolish what is in essence a family home tax but unfortunately the Fianna Fáil capitulation to the troika put this tax on the agenda. I and my colleagues on South Dublin County, as well as Sinn Féin councillors elsewhere, constantly push for the maximum possible 15 per cent reduction in the local property tax annually, and in many cases our councillors have been successful.
There is little doubt that the property tax takes no account of a person’s ability to pay, which makes it deeply regressive. Coupled with this there are many houses that are still in negative equity and receive no relief for this on their valuation. In effect, for many working families, this a debt tax. It is true that all homeowners will benefit through abolition of the property tax, and this will include some highly valued homes. However, the houses liable to local property tax valued at over €1 million represent only 0.02 per cent of the total.
The abolition of this punitive charge and the abolition of water charges would provide badly needed relief to hard-pressed families and pensioners. With 83,000 people in work with an income below the poverty line, and having seen a rise in poverty among pensioners over the past few years, it is difficult to see why anybody would want to maintain such a tax. – Is mise,
Cllr SARAH HOLLAND,
Dublin 16.
Sir, – All kinds of election promises are being made but none have touched on those dear to my heart. A blanket ban on all on-street advertising with huge fines for anyone whose face beams down on innocent road users. Removal of VAT from audio books, in particular for those with vision impairment. Ditto for all sanitary products for women. A government agency to take timely and complete responsibility for anyone homeless or begging on our streets. Birth control in all its forms to be put in the hands of the medical profession and taken off the political agenda.
Wishful thinking? Perhaps I’ll just have to throw my hat into the ring next time round! – Yours, etc,
MARY BURNHAM,
Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Sir, – In which constituency has Fintan O'Toole decided to stand in the upcoming general election? Given his trenchantly expressed views on the integrity and capability of the existing political establishment ("Enda Kenny's claim of economic super-powers doesn't wash", Opinion & Analysis, February 16th), it is surely inconceivable that he has, once again, ducked the opportunity to move from ditch to pitch. – Yours, etc,
PETER MOLLOY,
Glenageary, Co Dublin.