Sir, – Mere weeks ago, Sinn Féin was reviled as morally unfit for government by parties that now revile Sinn Féin’s unavailability for government. Can those parties explain the contradiction, lest their moralising be mistaken for extremely exploitative electioneering? –
Yours, etc,
COLM DORE,
Belfast.
Sir, – So Gerry Adams calls the talks to form a government a “charade” (“Gerry Adams says he will stand for leadership of Sinn Féin”, April 6th). Surely Sinn Féin is guilty of the biggest charade, promising the electorate change if elected, and when elected doing everything to avoid going into government! – Yours, etc,
CLARE STOREY,
Glencar,
Co Sligo.
Sir, – Whether Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil like it or not, the people’s message is that Civil War political divisions are dead.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have the numbers to form a coalition, as did Fine Gael and Labour in 2011.
We need a government as strong as the previous one to continue our recovery.
So what part of the message do the largest parties not understand? Is it fear? Is it party before nation? If the leaders of 1916 and the Labour Party in 2011 had put self-interest before national interest, where would we be now?
Perhaps we should have an immediate election so that the people’s message can be even louder and clearer! –Yours, etc,
JOE HARRISON,
Spanish Point,
Co Clare.
Sir, – Our politicians are failing the electorate by refusing to hear the message they’ve been given.
We’ve had the election and the TDs are in place – all 158 of them.
Now they must govern by consensus, and if some outdated parliamentary rule forbids this, then it should be changed.
Local authorities rule by consensus, so do numerous foreign governments, and even the European Parliament.
So what makes the Dáil so special?
When you think about it, governing by consensus is the only way minority parties and Independents can have a real voice. But our two big parties don’t want to listen to minorities. They just want their support in return for a few crumbs from the top table. Is this democracy? – Yours, etc,
BRIAN DALY,
Portmarnock,
Co Dublin.