Sir, - When are our TDs really going to fulfil the function for which they were elected - as members of parliament, charged with the responsibilities of overseeing the affairs of the nation?
On Tuesday last week, when the country experienced the first day of the three-day Dublin Bus strike, Mary O'Rourke addressed an almost empty chamber in the Dail. Where were the men and women we elected to carry out these national responsibilities? No doubt attending funerals or some such local event in their own constituencies, or pleading with the Minister for Justice to reduce a constituent's fine.
It is said that the difference between a politician and a statesman is that one looks to the next election, the other to the next generation. It looks as though we are sadly lacking in the latter category. - Yours, etc., Ven Michael Nuttall,
Archdeacon of Limerick, Adare, Co Limerick.