Sir, – I read with interest your editorial on the current position of the Labour Party (April 1st). It is certainly true that the "catastrophic fall" in seats was due in no small part to the ludicrous promises made during the 2011 campaign. Responsibility for that lies with an ageing leadership who, long out of power, had little long-term strategic regard for their party.
However, your editorial goes on to argue that any salvation for Labour lies with the working class. It is surely too late for that; the time for concentrating on the working class was during the last government.
This is not to denigrate the real achievements of Labour in this area, most notably in the area of protecting social benefits from major cuts.
They got the optics all wrong. Its focus on socially progressive legislation made it seem out of touch to those hurting most under austerity. Meanwhile those in favour of such legislation who actually vote abandoned the party at the polls.
Ireland is in a much better place than five years ago and not just economically. In a logical world, Labour would have benefited.
However, working class voters’ loyalties now lie elsewhere, and liberal Ireland has moved on. There is nowhere to go, and the sad probability is that we are witnessing the strange death of the Labour Party. – Yours, etc,
DERMOT MADDEN,
Tallaght,
Dublin 24.
Sir, – Whenever the Labour parliamentary party settles in to the Opposition benches, it will find itself in the company of several Independents of moderate left-wing persuasion. Instead of forming several groupings, or mini-parties, there is a golden opportunity for the rebirth of the oldest political party in the State.
Why invent new parties with confusing titles, or plough the lone furrow, when such an established brand for moderate socialist politics already exists and merely requires rejuvenation and renewal?
This would be neither simple nor straightforward, but a debate amongst like-minded politicians on the future of socialist politics in Ireland is surely timely. – Yours, etc,
JIM HOLOHAN,
Stranorlar,
Co Donegal.