Madam, - By appointing Michael McDowell via negotiations at an élite level of the party, rather than electing someone through an open and transparent election, the PDs refused their party membership the opportunity to mandate a leader and denied the wider public an opportunity to hear the candidates' views on future policy direction.
Perhaps we should expect no more from a party that is content to foist its neo-liberal policy agenda on Irish society, when it was mandated to do so by just 3.96 per cent of the electorate (based on first-preference votes at the 2002 election). - Yours, etc,
MARTIN GEOGHEGAN,
Dungarvan,
Co Waterford.
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Madam, - Is it not time we reminded ourselves that the PDs are the smallest political party in Ireland? With Michael McDowell taking over the leadership, and the massive media excitement that has accompanied this, one might think that the PDs represented a significant portion of the Irish electorate. The fact is that they represent a tiny, albeit very powerful, section of the public - the political wing of Ibec, as many observers note.
On Sunday Mr McDowell spoke on RTÉ in his usual patronising and insulting manner about the "ragbag" of independents, even though in total the independents have more electoral support than his own party.
He obsessively vilifies Sinn Féin and its supporters even though it has double the support of the PDs. He reacts like a spoiled child to any form of political opposition. The PDs are irrelevant to the needs of 95 per cent of the Irish electorate and for the sake of democracy it is high time that the media started to reflect this. - Yours, etc,
AIDAN REGAN,
Heatherview Lawn,
Tallaght,
Dublin 24.
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Madam, - Congratulations to Minister McDowell on becoming the leader of the Progressive Democrats. He has often been quoted as believing that the party must be either radical or redundant. As a voter in Dublin South-East, I'd like to assure him that he now has an opportunity to end this dichotomy and become both. - Yours, etc,
GARETH CASSIDY,
Pembroke Road,
Dublin 4.