Madam, - I have to disagree with Michael McLouglin (Opinion & Analysis, June 19th) - not over Labour's need for internal re-organisation and the promotion of new, younger candidates, but with the political reasons he puts forward for doing this.
I take particular issue with his apparent suggestion that Labour should forgo its traditional trade union links in exchange for transient popularity with fickle "middle-class" voters, who are entirely promiscuous in their voting habits and offer no concrete or long-term loyalty to any party. There also seems to be an assumption that it is only the "middle class" which aspires to a better lifestyle and efficiency in public services.
Not only do Labour's "historical links with the trade unions give us a rich past", but, he seems to overlook, they give us a practical and important financial present in the form of the electoral fund which most unions pass on exclusively to Labour candidates. Additionally, trade union members and their families are the "bulk of the people", being the largest socio-economic grouping in the Republic and are the sector of the electorate most amenable to voting Labour, not the ephemeral and vacuous so-called "middle-class". Perhaps he should look at the 850,000 citizens of this Republic who are on the "poverty line", according to social statistics. If only half of them were voters and they all voted Labour the political situation here would be transformed.
As for TDs being messengers, this is implied in their word "teachta" meaning "messenger" in English. Is it Mr McLoughlin's contention that the current Fianna Fáil TDs are not messengers for Bob the Builder, Ibec, the IFA and others of that ilk in opposition to the interests of the "bulk of the people"? We need a better presentation of our "message" all right, not as media image or spin but as reasoned and practical policies directly linked by explanation to the actual living situation of our supporters and potential supporters. We need to explain that these living conditions are the direct consequences of the kind of government provided by Fianna Fáil and the rich élite and vested interests it serves.
Chasing after a meaningless "centrism" and ignoring the social base from which Labour and European social democracy arose has proved disastrous - not only in the past but now, allowing right-wing governments to re-establish themselves in France and Germany, for example, and Fianna Fáil to rule the roost here for far too long. - Yours, etc,
SEAMAS RATIGAN, Dublin 8.