Sir, - Maire Geoghegan-Quinn (Opinion, December 27th) has joined the chorus saying that the Progressive Democrats "no longer have a reason for existing". It seems strange that the people who predict the end of the road for the PDs are invariably the same as those who complain that the party had too much influence in the last Budget. Surely influence in political decisions is what it's all about! Despite the disappointment of the last election the Progressive Democrats still attracted more voters than the Greens and Democratic Left put together; yet I hear no-one predicting the imminent demise of either of those parties. Does Maire Geoghegan-Quinn not believe that these voters are entitled to representation? And what about those who have voted PD in the past and may wish to do so again in the future ?
Extraordinarily supine thinking is betrayed in Ms Geoghegan-Quinn's comment that there is no longer a need for a leader "with a huge personal `vision' for Ireland. . . Role, not radicalism, is the requirement." This offers perhaps the best reason for the party's survival. It is beyond me how anyone can claim that all that's needed is steady management in a country with the western world's highest level of social exclusion and worst system of public transport - to mention but two issues requiring urgent action. After Dick Spring's recent retirement as Labour Party leader there was much gloating about how he and his party had been the dominant political and ideological force in Ireland during his time as leader. I think it's a valid boast, but I wonder then how his party can blame others for the way in which the social crisis has massively deepened in the same period. Should we not at least be considering new ideas? It's fair to say that we could have articulated it better at the time of the election but the reality is that the Progressive Democrats is the only party her proposing the same sort of reforms that are being implemented by the Labour Party in Britain and by Bill Clinton's Democrats in the United States. God only knows what Tony Blair would be called if he lived in Ireland. Whether or not people choose to vote for such policies, I believe that sticking around to offer them that choice is good for our democracy and a valid enough "reason for existing". - Yours, etc.,
(PDs, Dublin North-Central), Dalcassian Downs, Dublin 9.