Madam, - Although the final result of the US Presidential election may not be known for some time, it now seems likely that the American people will have chosen to re-elect George W. Bush as president for a second term.
In the light of this, I fear we can expect a change in attitude from the majority of people here, and indeed in the rest of the world, who seem to have been hoping for a Kerry victory.
I attended the march in Dublin in June to protest against the Iraq war in general and the presence of Mr Bush in Ireland in particular.
At that event there was a good deal of anti-Bush sentiment but little or no anti-American sentiment. I saw a number of people proudly waving US flags.
The attitude of people to whom I spoke was that many of the American people had no understanding of the kind of man they were electing and, had they known, they would not have elected him. It now appears that even in the light of the knowledge of Mr Bush's actions and omissions over the last four years, the majority of the American people have chosen to re-elect him.
A likely consequence is the evaporation of sympathy for Americans in the rest of the world.
They really have chosen this man. - Yours, etc.,
PETER FELLOWS-MCCULLY Killiney, Co Dublin.
Madam, - I'm fed up of hearing uninformed comments about how George Bush "stole" the election in 2000 because of a faulty electoral system that did not grant the presidency to the winner of the popular vote.
Are people not aware that the same event could occur under the "non-pure PR" electoral systems operating in the UK and Ireland? If there are two dominant parties, it is possible for a party to win a majority of votes, and yet not win a majority of seats.
This situation actually occurred in Malta in 1981 when Labour won a majority of seats, despite the opposition Nationalists winning a majority of votes.
What system does Malta use? Our very own PR-STV. Unfortunately, it will probably only take a Maltese-like situation in Ireland to "inform" people of some of the faults in our electoral system. - Yours, etc.,
LIAM WEEKS, Department of Political Science, Trinity College Dublin.
Madam, - Oh dear, oh dear.
I realised with a sinking feeling this morning, when I switched on the news, that although at this stage, the result hasn't been declared, it does look as if we will be subjected to four more years of dreary letters from the Butler NGO Alliance of Not in My Name.
Still, the one bright spot on the horizon is that the most excellent Messrs Steyn and Myers will continue to regale us with their wit. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN O'CONNOR, Moira, Co Down.