JOHN JEFFERIES,
A chara, - I was very surprised that your constituency-by-constituency prediction of how the 42 Dail constituencies may vote at the next general election made no mention of the strong challenge being mounted by the Workers' Party in the Waterford constituency (The Irish Times, February 4th).
Given that the party polled 4,139 first-preference votes (9.24 per cent) in the last general election and ended up with 5,783 votes on the ninth count, it should surely merit a mention in any article on the election in this constituency.
While there have been many changes since the last election, especially the unexpected and untimely death of our candidate Martin O'Regan, the Workers' Party remains a potent force in Waterford politics and has worked hard to extend its support base beyond its city bastion.
We have three city councillors and an active party campaigning in and with the community. In the forthcoming election we will be represented by Cllr John Halligan, who has built up a strong following throughout Waterford. We are convinced and have strong evidence to show that he stands an excellent chance of winning a Dáil seat in Waterford.
The pundits have been proved wrong before. - Is mise,
JOHN JEFFERIES, Press Officer, The Workers' Party, Hill Street, Dublin 1.