Madam, - The Taoiseach's claim to be a socialist is risible (The Irish Times, November 13th). A certain personal asceticism and a willingness to allow the masses to use public parks are not the tests of socialism, though they may be characteristic of a 19th-century philanthropic tradition. Socialism is concerned with eliminating pathological social inequalities on the basis of citizens' rights, not with bolstering inequalities as engines of economic development.
No Taoiseach who unleashed Charlie McCreevy and the PDs on the Irish electorate could credibly claim to be a socialist. Mr Ahern, perhaps contrary to his self-image, is the right-wing, populist leader of a radically conservative government, a leader of a type seen repeatedly over the past 100 years, though generally in less politically developed societies than Ireland's. - Yours, etc.,
HUGO BRADY BROWN, Stratford on Slaney, Co Wicklow.
Madam, Charles Haughey was correct when he described Bertie Ahern as the most cunning and devious of all. He is so cunning and devious that for 28 years of public life he successfully concealed the fact that he is a socialist. - Yours, etc.,
BRENDAN LYNCH, Croaghpatrick Road, Dublin 7.
Madam, - Donkeyote? Who is fooling whom? Bertie Ahern, as we all should know, was against the Iraq war all along, has been a closet socialist for years, a secret card-carrying environmentalist, and long-term member of the Legion of Mary. Emulating the success of Father Neil Horan, who is also interpreting the will of Allah on Earth, Bertie is now pushing the other false idols off the political racing tracks, and off their trolleys.
With a fleetness of foot that deceives the eye, and most of humanity, he pushes the Pope, Pat Rabbitte, Kofi Annan, Che Guevara et al., into the crowd of gombeen spectators, and is wildly cheered as he dances a jig in his kilt made of shamrock, shaped like a fig leaf, and his Superman anorak.
And then he wakes up, after a bolt of lightening knocks him off his ass on the road to Damascus - or is it Baghdad? - Yours, etc.,
EDWARD HORGAN, Castletroy, Co Limerick.
Madam, - It looks as though George Orwell was twenty years too early with his doublespeak prediction in 1984. After the weekend interviews from Mr Ahern we can now replace "populist" with "socialist" and "tax evasion" with "ethical lapses". - Yours, etc.,
FERGUS MADDEN, Taney Avenue, Dundrum, Dublin 14.
Madam, - The next time my pupils sit in their cold classroom, with the rain water flowing down the walls, while their parents run raffles and car-washes to pay for the everyday running of the school, I'll think of our great "socialist" leader. Does Bertie mean "socialist" in a North Korean sense? - Yours, etc.,
ÁINNLE O'NEILL, Osprey Drive, Dublin 6W.