Sir, - Further to Vincent Browne's article of November 12th, I wonder whether President McAleese's successes, both electoral and critical, might indicate of some social change potentially more profound than recent shifts within the political landscape.
We should be cautious of too much pop analysis, but there has been considerable speculation about Ireland moving into a "post-liberal" phase and many of the themes of the President's inaugural address did feel curiously apposite.
I believe there is a growing mood which favours pluralism but fears the moral relativism of our Anglophone neighbours, east and west. Those of us who might occasionally be denigrated as pick 'n' mix Catholics are seeking some broader way to square our religiocultural heritage with continuing secularisation, first institutional and then intellectual, to arrive at a central respect for free will and individual rights.
I for one have high hopes of the next seven years and look to the Celtic Tiger reaffirming its sense of conscience. - Yours, etc.,
Grosvenor Villas, Dublin 6.