Sir, - As Fianna Fail's popularity grows in line with each new scandal, the reaction from trendy liberals is one of shock and amazement, and a by now somewhat forlorn warning that the electorate will take its revenge at some vague point in the future. The electorate won't, because Fianna Fail is telling the truth (for once) when it claims to be the embodiment of the Irish people.
When a bar-fly regales his colleagues with how he "squared" a planning permission, got a drunk-driving charge dropped, or got his son a job to which he was not entitled, the reaction in Ireland is admiration. In other countries (such as godless Scandinavia), such a person would be ostracised. As de Valera himself said, "I despair of the Irish nation, because we are at heart such a dishonest people. My belief is that if Fianna Fail can generate enough new scandals (shouldn't be too difficult), single party government cannot be too far off. - Yours, etc.
Tony Murphy, Cuskinny, Cobh, Co Cork.