Madam, - One of the most remarkable features of the general election has been the emergence of the "grey vote" and the recognition by party strategists of its importance. Some 468,000 voters in Ireland are aged over 65, accounting for 17 per cent of the electorate.
Moves in recent months to mobilise this voting block have resulted in hundreds of older voters attending rallies and questioning politicians. In addition, over 30,000 people have signed postcards of support for the Older and Bolder campaign, which is seeking equality for older people from the next government.
The parties have responded with an unprecedented range of policies for older people in their manifestos. A summary of these is available on the Age Action website www.ageaction.ie.
Now, after the TV debates, the exhaustive media coverage and the endless canvassing, older voters must decide on Thursday which party will best look after their interests. Which will best serve them when it comes to issues such as adequate State pensions and supports for independent living? They will vote not only on their own behalf, but on behalf of future generations of older people.
The decisions of these "grey voters" could well decide the outcome of the election. - Yours, etc,
EAMON TIMMINS, Head of Advocacy and Communications, Age Action, Lower Camden Street, Dublin 2.
Madam, - Bertie Ahern and Enda Kenny were both at pains in their TV debate to claim the economy would be in safe hands if they were elected. Yet our economy - and our way of life - is at the mercy of the climate. Neither man had one syllable to say on the subject of global warming and climate change in a debate that ran for a full hour-and-a-half. Nor, indeed, did RTÉ deem the topic important enough to introduce into the discussion.
Ireland has missed its Kyoto commitments on carbon reduction by a mile. No problem. We have one of the most oil-dependent economies in the OECD. No bother. Climate instability means rapidly melting icecaps and rising sea levels. Meanwhile, drought is forecast for Ireland's eastern seaboard in the next two decades. None of this is worth a mention, it seems.
The fifth great extinction occurred around 65 million years ago, and with it went the dinosaurs. Globally, species extinction rates are currently 1,000 times higher than the expected "background" natural levels. The sixth great extinction is already well under way, yet as the "great debate" illustrated so clearly, Ireland's political dinosaurs are too busy fretting about growth rates and the economy to have noticed the gathering storm.
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." When Martin Luther King wrote this, he could hardly have realised the literal truth of his words. One can only imagine what he would have thought of the "leadership" our politicians have displayed on the greatest crisis of our times. - Yours, etc,
JOHN GIBBONS, Mulgrave Terrace, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
Madam, - The latest census figures show that there are 419,733 foreign nationals living in this country and that 163,227 of them come from EU states other than the United Kingdom. They enjoy a right to vote in local and European elections, but cannot vote in Dáil elections no matter how long they remain in the state - unless they become Irish citizens.
The situation is similar in EU states, where only nationals may vote in national elections. An exception is the UK, where resident citizens of other Commonwealth countries and the Republic of Ireland enjoy a right to vote in general elections. There is a reciprocal arrangement allowing British nationals resident in Ireland to vote in Irish general elections.
A change to the prevailing situation in this State would merely require an Act of the Oireachtas, as the Constitution allows for "other persons in the State as may be determined by law" to vote in Dáil elections. There is a compelling argument for allowing people from other EU states who are resident in this country on a permanent basis to vote in general elections, based on the democratic principle that all individuals living in the same polity should, as far as possible, be given a say in the decisions that affect them.
Already EU nationals may avail of education, social welfare and healthcare on an equal footing with Irish citizens. For this reason, the widening of the franchise should be restricted to them, since, unlike non-EU nationals, there is no compelling reason, beyond the right to vote, for them to apply for citizenship after five years of residency.
The presence of this cohort of voters in an election might have interesting repercussions. For one thing, the present situation gives a disproportionate influence to more homogeneous rural areas over increasingly multi-national cities. The number of registered voters in certain Dublin constituencies, in particular, under-represents the populations there.
It is possible that many EU nationals would ignore the niceties of civil war politics, and instead support parties with more coherent ideologies such as Labour, the Progressive Democrats or the Green Party.
Also, the priorities of EU nationals here might be quite different to those peculiar to the Irish. Across the European continent, there is nothing unusual about renting for life while in this country owning property is seen as a coming of age. Perhaps if EU nationals had a political voice there would be more legislation to protect those in the rental sector and less effort would be made to court the votes of aspiring property owners. Also, in most European countries a functioning public transport system is considered essential while in Ireland car owners are prioritised.
In an effort to make the political process more inclusive, Enda Kenny has advocated that the voting age be reduced to 17. Instead, should he and other politicians not consider including some of the disenfranchised adults in this country? - Yours, etc,
FRANK ARMSTRONG, Tritonville Road, Dublin 4.
Madam, - I was delighted to hear Gerry Adams stress on several occasions during last Wednesday's TV debate that his party is all about people's rights. How comforting this must be to the families of the innocents who were killed, beaten or intimidated over the decades by the IRA. How comforting it is, for instance, that freedom-fighters had the best interests of their proxy bombers in mind as they tied them firmly behind the steering wheels and sent them to their deaths. How comforting that they were concerned for their victims' families, so much so that they often returned the personal effects, wallets and rings, of those they abducted, tortured, murdered and dumped by a roadside, or made disappear to this day. It's all about people's rights, you know. - Yours, etc,
SEAN ROONEY, Conor Clune Road, Dublin 7.
Madam, - After what must go down in history as the most callous campaign of personal vilification against our leader and Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, I, as a rank and file member of Fianna Fáil, appeal to others to close ranks, to bury our animosities with the bones of our ancestors and encompass our Fianna Fáil heritage.
When the history of this present period is written, Bertie Ahern will stand head and shoulders above his contemporaries as a loyal patriot with a desire to serve his country. Loyalty to one's country is the coinage of patriotism. Bertie Ahern has shown during the latter end of the general election campaign a dignity and loyalty way above the call of duty. - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL J STOKES, Willington Green, Templeogue, Dublin 6.