Sir, - I was somewhat bemused by Dick Spring's wholly artificial contention, at his party's conference, that the electorate is being faced with a choice between "centre right and centre left". While this type of cant might have been a tonic for the troops in Limerick, it cuts no ice with the broader electorate nor, I note, with many seasoned media commentators.
Fianna Fail is a compassionate party of the centre, with a strong commitment to the less well off. It was Fianna Fail which helped build our social welfare system and our semistate sector. These facts may not tally with the revisionist approach peddled by Mr Spring, but he can check the history books for himself, or perhaps get one of his many advisers to do so.
Indeed for a "centre left" government, Mr Spring and his colleagues have chalked up some dubious achievements: the part privatisation of Telecom for a song; continued poverty and marginalisation in our urban areas; the shameful and insensitive handling of the blood scandal; the various ethical scandals which ministers have become embroiled in the subtle dismantling of our military neutrality. I could go on.
Of course, the electorate is now well used to Mr Spring's breath taking U turns. In Opposition, he attacked Fianna Fail with a savage political invective that hitherto had not existed in the Dail chamber. He subsequently went into government with Fianna Fail. Just after the 1992 election, John Bruton was subjected to a humiliating dressing down from Mr Spring in the Shelbourne Hotel. Now Mr Spring is in government with Mr Bruton.
At this stage, like most people, I take Mr Spring's declaration of moral purity with a hefty pinch of salt. Recent political history speaks for itself. We have never had a traditional left right divide in this country; nor do we now. It is a mark of Mr Spring's remarkable arrogance that he would seek to impose on the Irish people a model that has not worked well in other European countries. Thankfully, the Irish people will decide the configuration of the next Dail, not Mr Spring.
Incidentally, what does Fine Gael, and its natural constituency of large farmers and the well off, make of Mr Spring's contention that this is a "centre left" government? I think we should be told! - Yours, etc.
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