EDDIE NAUGHTON,
Sir, - Can I suggest some ways for Fianna Fáil ministers to get themselves sacked by Bertie Ahern, since their efforts hitherto are proving totally inept.
1) Burn down a church while members of Sinn Féin are inside praying for the Peace Process.
2) Sabotage David Andrews's next flight to his constituents in Columbia.
3) Throw a custard pie at the picture of Padraig Pearse in Bertie's office while Bertie is sitting beneath it.
4) Bribe a Fianna Fáil minister or councillor. On the other hand. . .
- Yours, etc.,
EDDIE NAUGHTON,
The Coombe,
Dublin 8.
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Sir, - My daughter committed suicide in January, 2001. She was a doctor and a very caring, giving and altruistic person.
Dr McDaid's comments were extremely hurtful and are an insult to all suicide survivors. They add to the trauma and stress of people bereaved by suicide.
There is still a lot of stigma attached to suicide, depression etc. in this country and his insensitive comments didn't help at all. Suicide is a very complex issue. The suicidal person suffers from an enourmous amount of hopelessness and pain and has no intention to hurt anybody.
In my opinion Dr McDaid is not fit to hold office. His simplistic and insensitive remarks on the motives of people who commit suicide are unacceptable and inexcusable. As a medical doctor what would he say if a suicidal person were looking for help - that he/she is a selfish bastard? I'm shocked and very upset. - Yours, etc.,
WILHELM BURGGRAF,
Kinvara,
Co Galway.
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Sir, - Your MRBI poll published today (May 3rd) is bizarre. The poll was conducted among a national quota sample of 1,000 voters throughout all constituencies in the State. There are 42 constituencies in the State, each one a separate election in itself with local issues and local candidates. That makes an average sample of about 24 voters per constituency. To obtain a realistic sample, one would have to canvass about 1,100 voters per constituency, not nationally. The poll results are therefore meaningless. - Yours, etc.,
PADDY BUTLER,
Delgany,
Co Wicklow.
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Sir, - In the interests of transparency and in order for us to properly assess the worth of the various Dáil candidates, would those who are not wearing their own hair be prepared to stand up and be counted. I have been admiring of late a poster of someone in a nearby constituency who looks as if his hair was dumped on his head by a passing helicopter and, whereas there are plenty of follicularly challenged candidates who go honestly and proudly about their business, I would really like to know about those others who are lurking under hirsute eruptions of one kind or another. - Yours, etc.,
ARTHUR DUNNE,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
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Sir, - I find it very disappointing to read in today's Irish Times that the Taoiseach's cavalcade is showing incredible disregard for speed limits and for the safety of other road users. It seems ridiculous that speeds of 85 or 95 mph are fair game - to visit an auctioneering business. But the most distasteful aspect of this is that the Taoiseach could joke about speeding so soon after the deaths of two gardaí in Stillorgan. All this from the party that promised "Zero Tolerance". - Yours, etc.,
THOMAS HEALY,
Kildare.
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Sir, - I don't share P. Campbell's optimism that "people will make an informed decision" (May 2nd). I fear that the shadow of Civil War politics will ensure that the majority of our sophisticated electorate will cast their vote based on how their father voted, and his father before him.
Wonderful. Our rulers will be chosen by lemmings. - Yours, etc.,
DAVID MCHUGH,
Ballincollig,
Co Cork.
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Sir, - Is it just me, or are there others out there repelled by this business of inherited Dáil seats? I haven't done a count, but there does seem to be an awful lot of them: in my own area, I've got three on offer, and in one case I seem to have a third generation of one family anxious to get his snout into the public trough - oops, I mean continue the family tradition of selfless public service. Join with me, please, in a boycott of all such family fiefdoms. - Yours, etc.,
ALAN O'BRIEN,
Dalkey, Co Dublin.
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Sir, - I read your pages with interest these days as the election looms ahead. I returned to Ireland in 1997 after a decade abroad. Fianna Fáil was already in power at the time. I look forward to casting my vote for the first time in many years, (in a general election that is).
My difficulty is this: I moved back to a area I did not previously live in, to a country that has changed radically, and I have not met the candidates who have affected this change. I read about the candidates that are "going door to door" listening to the issues.
However, I have entertained only two potential candidates to date, both of them first timers, and both out canvasing before the Dáil was dissolved and the election called.
Is this a reflection of the interest they have in my issues and my vote? Or is it a measure of their confidence in returning to the Dáil without the need to canvas door to door? I an a determined floating voter. I remain without confidence in the electioneering process to date! - Yours etc.,
DEIRDRE MULDOON.
Blackrock, Co Dublin.
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Sir, - It is now more evident what last year's Fine Gael conference was all about. The high moral ground and self gratification and ego of its new leader Michael Noonan. The no confidence in John Bruton resulting in a near 50- 50 split within the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party has shown the present mood within it to be incapable of any action to pull out of its present morass.
The party is mesmerised by the prospect of another term in opposition, eyeing each other with suspicion and mutual dislike, divided down the middle by personality and policy differences which run so deep that they overflow beyond the bounds of party affiliation. While taking into account the recent outpourings and postures from leading Fine Gael politicians there is no point in minimising the difficulties that are inherent within the party.
The whole operation must stick in the guts of the diehards of right and left and even the various fragmented elements that lie between these points. With these public revelations of party weakness the electorate are further demoralised by the political commentators of all shades and permutations that seem to be at one in their assessment that has overtaken the Fine Gael party.
Finally, the failure to quell the spiteful elements within the party are abundantly clear for Michael Noonan, and he can hardly fail to appreciate the political connotations accompanying such an enviable position. - Yours, etc.,
MICHEL J. STOKES PC,
Templeogue,
Dublin 6W.