JOHN J. KELLY,
Sir, - I have wondered for a long time about the effectiveness of the form of democracy practised here and in other "democratic" countries in achieving human rights, tolerance, justice, etc.
There seems to be plenty of confusion about this in a wide variety of places and the letter from Michael McLoughlin (April 23rd) is a good example.
He says that, if elected, Jean-Marie Le Pen should "be completely isolated by democratic leaders". But if he is elected, he will be a democratically elected leader.
Who would be to blame if this occurred? The French people? The French electoral system? Or is it, as I strongly suspect, a much wider problem? These questions require urgent answers because, even if M. Le Pen is not elected, others like him may be somewhere. - Yours, etc.,
Tomas O'Beirne, Ilex House, Sussex Road, Dublin 4.
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Sir, - If there is one lesson both the media and voters in Ireland can learn from the French election, it is not to be so reliant on opinion polls in making assumptions on the outcome of the forthcoming election here.
Not one single poll in France correctly forecast Sunday's result. Yet it is clear a lot of people, particularly supporters of Lionel Jospin, either did not vote or voted for one of the other left candidates, believing that they would be free in the second round to support the prime minister.
For the past six months at least we have been encouraged to accept the result of the forthcoming election as a foregone conclusion without any real debate in the media of the issues which should be central to a general election. No doubt for the next three or four weeks we can expect more of the same. Wouldn't it be nice if this time could be spent having a proper debate without an opinion poll in sight? - Yours, etc.,
John J Kelly, Belgrave Square, Rathmines, Dublin 6.
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Sir, - David Giles (April 25th) blames PR - the "foundation stone of the \ State" - for the outrageous results of the French elections. He does not know what he is talking about.
The first round of the French elections is a first-pair past the post system. If the French used the Irish multiple-transfer PR system, it is likely that Jospin would have collected many transfer votes from other democratic candidates and Le Pen would be without a chance. The Irish electoral system has problems, but PR per se is not one of them. - Yours, etc.,
Paul Barry, Malpas Place, Dublin 8.
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Sir, - Is the swing to the right in France just a flash in Le Pen? - Yours, etc.,
Mike Cullen, Albert Park, Sandycove, Co Dublin.