Madam, – It was with some disappointment that I heard that the Fine Gael party whip has been applied across its local authority representatives in the matter of supporting nominations for the presidential election. Specifically, Senator David Norris’s campaign to seek a nomination is greatly hampered by this kind of party politics. Senator Norris, the bookies’ favourite of the currently declared candidates, is clearly a popular choice. If, however, by applying the whip to their locally-elected councillors, the main political parties “select” a candidate to carry their flag, then they are presenting the electorate with a sanitised panel from which to choose.
Can they not simply allow their councillors a free vote?
Let’s have a genuine choice of candidates, one of whom will take up the mantle of head of State at a time when Ireland’s national mood greatly needs a boost, and our international patina desperately needs to be reshined. – Yours, etc,