Sir, – Why is Michael D Higgins’s age – 70 – being used against him negatively in repeated interviews on RTÉ and elsewhere? Ronald Reagan was the same age for the first year of his presidency of the United States – a much more demanding role, with executive power. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I wonder what it indicates about the Irish character that one of the most vilified presidential candidates is being called to account for his compassion? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I would like to remind Fr Sean McManus, (October 4th), that we have had a Northern republican president for the past 14 years. So whatever our objections to Martin McGuinness are, they are not that he is a Northern republican.
In reference to President Obama, it is worth noting that he would not be now president but for the successful non-violent civil rights campaign led by the Rev Martin Luther King. Some of us may object to Martin McGuinness on the grounds he played a key role in turning a non-violent civil rights campaign into a violent sectarian civil war. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – In expressing a view that presidential candidate Martin McGuinness does not live on the average industrial wage as is claimed, Gay Mitchell suggested that Mr McGuinness should produce his P60 as evidence.
Seeing as Mr Mitchell has raised the issue of the earnings of a fellow presidential candidate and challenged him to produce his P60, surely in the interests of fairness and transparency, Mr Mitchell should lead by example and produce his P60 for scrutiny?
Such an act would convince the electorate that Mr Mitchell was being consistent in applying the same principles to all the presidential candidates and not engaging in double standards. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – In the process of deciding which of the candidates to vote for I intend to give no vote whatsoever to any candidate who smears another, or who has the smearing done for them by their support group or party. I hope other citizens may follow suit. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I find Fine Gael’s attempt to manipulate the electorate, by instilling fear that American companies will not locate here because there is a “terrorist in the Park”, quite disgraceful. This type of media assassination was to be expected from the unionists in the years during the Troubles. To have a national governing party use such tactics nowadays is quite shocking – particularly since so much transformative progress has been achieved during the peace process.
Fine Gael forgets that Éamon de Valera was our president and, given his history, could have been considered in certain quarters to be a “terrorist in the Park”. I’m sure if the Fine Gael hero Michael Collins had lived, most Fine Gael supporters would have jumped at the chance to make him president. And many then could quite legitimately argue that Michael Collins was indeed a “terrorist in the Park”.
Fine Gael has simplified the issues in a sinister attempt to assassinate the character of a man who has played a key role in reconciling the rifts and divisions in Northern Ireland. The peace process would never have happened with the unsavoury tactics that Fine Gael are using now. There is much to learn from the Northern Ireland experience – that is, if we let ourselves learn those lessons without these unsavoury character assassinations. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – As an 18-year-old from Armagh, studying in first arts in University College, Galway in 1975, I enjoyed the political science lectures from Michael D Higgins.
He spoke from his own life experiences and was prepared to link intellectual analysis to the existences of real people.
Now that I have left the west, I live in Belfast where ironically I am not entitled to vote in your presidential election; but I have often admired my old lecturer’s international approach to “the Irish situation” and his unselfish efforts in relation to Somalia, Chile, Nicaragua and Turkey.
I was proud to have him as a lecturer many years ago and can I recommend him to the plain people of Ireland as a president they might one day be proud to call their own and of whom they will never feel ashamed. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Mary Davis is making her P60 public, David Norris will have to release his letters; any hope that Martin McGuinness will put his P45 on line, showing that he has left a previous employment? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Whatever Gay Mitchell might say about Martin McGuinness, he doesn’t make a bad sniper himself. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The recent attacks by Fine Gael on Martin McGuinness’s presidential candidacy emphasise the double standards politicians in the South display towards the people of the North.
I don’t recall any politician in our holy Republic protesting about McGuinness’s suitability for high office in the North or calling him a terrorist. Strange how we have moved on from Sinn Féin/IRA being good enough to share power in the North to God forbid one of their own occupying the Áras.
The people of the North deserve more honesty and respect; but then again we have long since forgotten the once troublesome North now that the little matter of peace has being won. I wonder what Michael Collins would say? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – One of the significant responsibilities of the President is to sign Bills enacted by Houses of the Oireachtas into law. In June, on RTÉ’s Frontline Mary Davis displayed a lack of understanding in relation to the president’s responsibilities with regard to signing a Financial Bill into law. Mary Davis is a member of the Council of State.
On RTÉ News (October 3rd) Ms Davis stated that as a company director at all times she acted in the interests of the consumer. The common law duties of a director are very clear. According to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, “directors must exercise their powers in good faith and in the interests of the company as a whole”. The presidency is about protecting the Constitution. It is not about easy answers – Yours, etc,
Sir, – With many examples around the world of men of violence renouncing their past to take part in a democratic future, it might seem that the time is right for Martin McGuinness to argue his case as a presidential candidate. His argument was lost for me in his actions much more recently, when Sinn Féin misjudged the feelings of the vast majority of the citizens of this Republic, taking no part in the visit of Queen Elizabeth II. With one noble exception: Michael Browne, the late mayor of Cashel, defied Sinn Féin’s advice to members to stay away from all events linked to the royal party in May, shaking her hand to become the first Irish republican to officially greet a British monarch.
“I just said to her: ‘Welcome to Cashel, Your Majesty, and I hope you enjoy your stay’. No more, no less.”
Being presidential came easily to him, despite the censure he subsequently received from his own party, a quality that it appears Mr McGuinness is sadly lacking. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Given calibre of the seven candidates, might they be renamed “The seven Dwarfs”. Which one is Dopey? Or even, which one isn’t? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Okay. Now we are all set for Snow White. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – With regard to the candidates for the presidential election we can say, at last, that Ireland has become a sexually liberal society. Can “All kinds of everything” be any more inclusive? – Yours, etc,