Sir, – While still a student at Boston College, the future speaker of the US house of representatives, the late Tip O’Neill, narrowly lost an electoral bid for Cambridge City Council. Afterwards it was evident that some people in his own neighbourhood that he had expected to vote for him, did not, in fact, because he did not ask for their vote.
I have had a mere three requests for a vote in the local elections – two from Fianna Fáil and one from Sinn Féin. I have had no requests for a vote in the European elections. Discussing this with friends and associates, it would seem that my experience is not unique. Surely candidates should, at least, canvass if they expect to have any chance of being elected.
Tip O’Neill learned and never forgot the lesson that has become a maxim for all successful politicians: “All politics is local”. – Yours, etc,
CORMAC MEEHAN,
Bundoran,
Co Donegal.
Sir, – With a bit of luck Sinn Féin will get into power after the next general election. At this stage it’s the only thing I can think of that will stop their tiresome, catch-all rhetoric. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN AHERN,
Meadow Copse,
Clonsilla,
Dublin 15.
Sir, – I was driving across the country yesterday and the constant onslaught of posters was a serious distraction to my driving. I’m glad I wasn’t a tourist trying to find signposts obscured by the faces of our political wannabes. God forbid I wasn’t a non-English speaking tourist trying to decipher our placenames, instead to be accosted by this face and that glaring down from a height at every turn. Where is our lovely green country that we tried so hard to promote to the world at great expense with the Gathering? Covered in posters.
When I go to vote on Friday, I think I’ll vote for the face I haven’t seen littering the roads of our country – if indeed one exists. And I thought the country was supposed to be broke. Will the race to take posters down be as competitive as the one to put them up? – Yours, etc,
CAIT BRENNAN,
Hazelwood,
Loughrea,
Co Galway.
A chara, – Labour seems surprised it is down in the polls. It shouldn’t be. Smaller parties generally suffer after their time in coalition with larger ones. Sometimes they even fade away all together. It is the price they pay for the opportunity to have an influence on policy that far exceeds the proportion of the vote they receive. Labour shouldn’t grieve that it appears its day is nearly done; instead it should glory in the time it had. – Is mise,
Rev PATRICK G BURKE,
Castlecomer,
Co Kilkenny.
Sir, – Many of us have had the experience of giving someone a mandate to represent us in the European Parliament only to find that, for reasons that suit themselves or their party, they jump ship halfway through and land us with the first person on their substitute list for whom none of us voted and, in some cases, for whom we would not have voted in a fit! – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN CASSERLY,
Abbeybridge,
Waterfall,
Cork.
Sir, – Regarding Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore’s next Cabinet post, could the concept of a “rotating Taoiseach” be revisited? If so, might Enda relish a stint in Iveagh House? – Yours, etc,
PAUL DELANEY,
Beacon Hill,
Dalkey, Co Dublin.
Sir, – Of course posters and leaflets make absolutely no difference to a voter’s intentions. However, spare a thought for the printers who depend on these events for a living! – Yours, etc,
JOHN POYNTON,
Woodley Park,
Dublin 14.