Sir, – Harry McGee’s criticism (Opinion & Analysis, April 28th) of the “ludicrous rationale” of European Parliament constituencies that go from the Dublin suburbs to the islands of Kerry and Donegal is right.
I am not sure, however, if his solution of having one single-seat constituency for the whole country is much better. The ballot paper would be miles long and every “celebrity” in the country would be on it. The obvious solution is to have a five-seat urban constituency for Dublin and adjoining commuter belt counties and two three-seat rural constituencies in the rest of the country. This would be much more coherent than the present arrangement. Yours, etc,
ANTHONY LEAVY,
Shielmartin Drive,
Sutton,
Dublin 13
Sir, – Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to look at an election poster of Donegal man Pat the Cope Gallagher, EU candidate for downtown Leixlip, Co Kildare, on our main street. I am only nine miles from O’Connell Bridge. Could we not have had a larger metropolitan constituency to cover all within commuting distance of the metropole? I would even put up with a fringe MEP as the price! Yours, etc,
JOHN COLGAN,
Dublin Road Street,
Leixlip
Sir, – Over the next few weeks while people are out canvassing for my vote in the upcoming local and European elections, this is what I would like to know about them.
What have you done? Give me your CV. Please don’t tell me what you are going to do. You don’t know what you are going to do. You know what you would like to do but – as we know – that doesn’t always work out.
No, tell me if you have ever started your own business. Have you worked in the private sector, and for how long? Have you ever lost your job because the business had to close? I want to know that you have experienced all the vagaries of life that will allow you to make fully informed choices for the rest of us who have perhaps lost our jobs, who have started our own businesses, who are working in the private sector.
We have too many career politicians making vital decisions about how we live and they are just not getting it right. This has to change and the only way we can do that is to amend the job spec and start asking the right questions.
The next general election in 2016 is also racing towards us and this time we really need to be ready to make an informed choice. Yours, etc,
LULU CLEARY,
Palmerston Park,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6