Sir, – Pat Rabbitte (July 16th) responded to Diarmaid Ferriter's criticisms ("Labour's woes rooted in more than an ungrateful electorate", Opinion & Analysis, July 11th) mostly by emphasising that Ferriter is an academic rather than a politician and thus a so-called "hurler on the ditch". The sentiment behind this is not only curmudgeonly and anti-intellectual but also plainly undemocratic – what it implies is that those in power know best, and that scrutiny by mere citizens, who are not burdened with high executive office, is frivolous and self-indulgent.
This “hurler on the ditch” trope begs the question, what kind of political culture would have an idiom specifically used to deride inputs by people who are not professional politicians? – Yours, etc,
EOIN DALY,
School of Law,
NUI Galway.
Sir,– It is particularly appropriate that Pat Rabbitte should utilise the Tory “coalition of chaos” phrase, so successfully used in the recent British general election, to describe the left alternative to the current government. After all, hasn’t his entire political career been a fascinating journey from the radical republican left to the “there is no alternative” political right? He’d even give Eoghan Harris a run for his money! – Yours, etc,
PAUL GAVAN,
Castleconnell, Co Limerick.
Sir, – Diarmaid Ferriter says that the course taken by Irish politicians since the crash comprised “a large measure of delusion” and was “a deliberate misreading of not just just the Irish political scene . . . but also of a broader disillusionment with European politics”.
The alternative, in case he has missed it, was to do what the Greeks did. Irish politicians could have continued with policies which the country could not afford and built up more debt.
They could have agreed with the people sitting on the street blocking the entrance to the Dáil, for example, and said someone else should pay for the bankrupting of the country.
They would probably have got massive support from the same media and academia that cheer-led the delusion which led to the bankrupting of the country in the first place.
The real cause for disillusionment is the fact that so much of media and academia support Greek irresponsibility in bankrupting their own country and then demanding that the taxpayers of other countries, including the poorest, should pay. – Yours, etc,
A LEAVY,
Sutton, Dublin 13.
A chara, – Pat Rabbitte TD states that “Labour was not elected in 2011 to stand aside”. That is a matter for debate, perhaps. What we know for certain, however, is what Labour was elected to do. That was to carry out its promises to the electorate. – Is mise,
RORY O’CALLAGHAN,
Kilmainham,
Dublin 8.
Sir, –It wasn’t the Labour Party that created our economic crisis. In fact, when Labour handed the reins over to Fianna Fáil in 1997 the economy had never been in better shape. By 2016 it will have just about finished clearing up the last mess bequeathed to it in 2011.
When the election comes the people will focus on what the next government will do for the next five years.
I think Labour’s long record of acting in the national interest will stand in its favour. – Yours, etc,
IAN O’MARA,
Haddington Road,
Dublin 4.