A chara, – Una Mullally writes effusively in praise of the many positive qualities of Holly Cairns (Opinion & Analysis, March 6th), most of which I would tend to agree with.
It is a great pity though that your columnist once again uses her column to launch a broadside against Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, othering their entire membership, en masse, as “the out-group; not relatable, disconnected” and dismissing their younger politicians as “barely updated versions of past archetypes”.
The constant refrain from elements of mainstream media and some elected representatives implying that whole groups of politicians are all the same – a homogeneous mass completely undeserving of respect or support, by virtue of their political affiliation alone – is widespread and damaging.
Una Mullally may disagree with their policies, but the election and retention of centrist politicians is vital if we are to stop our stable democracy drifting towards extremism. Attracting quality people from across the ideological spectrum to get involved in politics is in all our interests, and we all have our part to play. – Is mise,
Ann Ingle: Deliberately going out of my way to move for no particular reason has never appealed to me
Gerry Thornley: How about an alternative look at Ireland’s Six Nations win over England?
Is Ireland anti-Semitic, an outlier of tolerance or in the middle ground?
How risky is it to buy a second-hand EV?
DAVID CARROLL,
Dublin 2.
