Sir, – Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett's call for a "free vote" in the Dáil on "conscience issues" is one of those well-intentioned ideas that sound good but are impossible to implement ("Barrett calls for free vote on conscience issues", December 30th). Let's suppose, for the sake of argument, that a form of words could be agreed upon to define what was or was not a conscience issue, ie not to do with finance, taxation, foreign affairs, defence, etc.
We are then left with the question of what constitutes a “free vote”. The party whip aside, going publicly against the clearly expressed wishes of the party leader is probably not going to advance a TD’s political ambitions.
Pressure is brought to bear on TDs in other ways. The genuine fear of extremists over “conscience issues” is another factor.
The only possible form of free vote for TDs in the Dáil would necessarily be the same as for the general public in elections, a secret ballot. However, were the public to be prevented from knowing how their representatives were voting, there would be a clear argument that democracy was not being fulfilled.
Back to the drawing board, Ceann Comhairle! – Yours, etc,
JOHN THOMPSON,
Phibsboro, Dublin 7.
Sir, – Frank Browne (January 2nd) writes, “I think most reasonable people would respect politicians who openly expressed a belief based on conscience”. Why? I, and presumably most people, vote for politicians to represent their constituents rather than themselves. Shouldn’t a TD’s beliefs regarding matters of conscience be entirely irrelevant unless an explicit part of their election campaign? Otherwise “personal conscience” in the Dáil just looks like self-indulgence and political expediency, inviting cynicism in the electorate. We have quite enough of this already. – Yours, etc,
ASHLEY ALLSHIRE,
Coachford, Co Cork.