Madam, – The debacle of the current government in Dáil Éireann on January 20th marked one of the lowest days in the history of democracy in this country.
The following day was the 92nd anniversary of the sitting of the first Dail in 1919. It is interesting to note that the majority of TDs had been unable to attend that day because they were in prison for their principles. Times really do change. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The Green Party has failed to act as junior partner in government and has acted as the Opposition by preventing the Taoiseach from appointing Ministers to serve at this critical time in the economic history of the country. Why are we not hearing from journalists on this? The “mistake” Brian Cowen made was to assume the Greens understand the responsibility of government. Sadly, the Greens have proved themselves more suited to opposition than government. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I can only deduce that the Ceann Comhairle’s assertion that gross disorder is the only basis for suspending a sitting of the Dáil must come from the Homer Simpson Book of Politics. The Dáil circus and the performing clowns are an insult to our country and national identity. The impertinence of our so-called intelligent Taoiseach in trying to pull another stroke on the electorate beggars belief. We now have seven green bottles sitting on the wall – hopefully no others will accidentally fall. Will no one rid us of this turbulent Taoiseach? – Is mise,
NIALL PELLY,
Westminster Road,
Foxrock, Dublin 18.
Madam, – Having written to the Minister for Education’s office for help regarding an educational matter that needed clarification, I must have been off my trolley to think I had the remotest hope of a reply. Even scarier is the fate of the more vulnerable victims of the health service, given she’s now double-jobbing. If it weren’t so damn serious it would be laughable. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – If the country can survive with a slimmed down Cabinet until after the general election on March 11th, is it too much to hope that the incoming Government will do likewise? Such downsizing is more in keeping with a country in receivership. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Cabinet half empty: optimism sweeps country. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I presume it is in order to refer to the events of January 20th as Cowengate? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Anybody left to ru(i)n the country? Fianna Fáil is a disgrace. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – We were led to believe that An Taoiseach was working 23 hours a day, seven days a week given the fiscal crisis and all that. So how is he now able to do another man’s full-time (?) job as well? And the same question applies in the case of the other ministries. Is it really possible for overworked ministers to double their ministerial workload? Oh yes, and run for election as well; and even help others to get elected on top of all that? Surely this isn’t possible? But then, government departments do seem to manage okay with ministers taking four or five times as many holidays as the rest of us. Is it possible that they have been telling us porky pies about all that hard work and putting the country first and all that palaver? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – A lot of the incorrect speculation surrounding the non-reshuffle of the outgoing Cabinet centred on the premise that it was time to give “younger” politicians seats at Cabinet.
It is anticipated that Deputies Kenny and Gilmore will, if the March general election results in a Fine Gael/Labour coalition, appoint young talent to the Cabinet. This is not new thinking – we have seen it before with a previous Fine Gael-led government during the 15th Dáil from 1954 to 1957.
That coalition, or second Inter-party government as it was then known, survived only one term in office as has been the fate of all Fine-Gael-led governments.
Following the defeat of the second Inter-party government in the March 1957 general election, Noël Browne, speaking in the debate on the nomination of Éamon de Valera as taoiseach passed the following verdict on the out-going Cabinet, “Sometimes it is said that one of the causes of our failure has been that younger men have not been given posts in the Cabinet. I do not share that view. The outgoing coalition government did this to a very considerable extent, with what results you can see. Those results are largely due to the fact that the young men came in and took over all their older colleagues’ thinking and theories and gave us the old clichés and the old excuses for the failure of these policies to solve our problems. The outcome has been higher unemployment, static production and the younger generation having to flee the country in their thousands because our country refused to give them, the poorer of them anyhow, a reasonable standard of comfort and a reasonable level of social security in their own country”. It is also interesting to note in respect of the that second Inter-party government that, as had been the case with the first Inter-party government from 1948 to 1951, the then leader of Fine Gael, Richard Mulcahy, stepped aside in respect of the nomination of a taoiseach to allow the more “acceptable” John A Costello be nominated – another lesson for those who aspire to replace the current government. –
TERRY TREANOR,
Carrickhill Rise,
Portmarnock, Co Dublin.
Madam, – Surely Mary Hanafin was best qualified to take on the portfolio of “De-fence” in the latest Government comedy reshuffle, after all she spent most of the last 10 days sitting on it. – Is mise,
TOMAS AGNEW,
Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Madam, – To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, losing one minister may be regarded as a misfortune and losing two might seem like carelessness but does a word even exist to describe losing six of them? – Yours, etc,