Sir, – Further to reports of plans for the setting up of a new "Independent alliance" ( "TDs Shane Ross and Michael Fitzmaurice to form alliance", January 6th), how is the extent of cooperation within such an alliance to be manifested? Presumably only one candidate from the alliance would be run per constituency, so a voting transfer pact between candidates would not apply.
It is very likely that the views among “participating candidates” (as opposed to “members”) would be starkly divergent. One candidate’s idea of an essential reform agenda could be totally incompatible with another alliance candidate’s viewpoint. If one set of elected TDs who are centre-right in mindset clashes with another set of elected TDs with a left-wing stance on a given policy, who would win out within the alliance?
General support given by the electorate to an incongruent hybrid grouping, presented under a gimmicky banner of convenience, could in practice lead to a significant element of instability in the event that such an alliance held the balance of power. Voters should always bear in mind that an incorporation of instability brings its own effective economic levies, given how dependent the perception of international markets of Ireland’s fiscal reputation is derived from the immediate cohesive level of domestic governance. – Yours, etc,
JOHN KENNEDY,
Goatstown,
Dublin 14.