Sir, People turned away from Labour in droves because it did something which was never part of what I would loosely call a social contract with the party when they voted for it in 1992: it coalesced with Fianna Fail. We all know what a disaster that arrangement was and I am quite sure that Dick Spring had a whiff of all of this on the doorsteps.
It was a terrible pity to squander the great result of the Labour Party in 1992 for a transitory period of power. If it had had the good sense to deal with the matter in 1992 it would not be in the disarray it is in today.
Many people have predicted that the potential new Government will not last. I agree. Fianna Fail will not share power. It puts a veneer on it, but the reality is that it believes it has a divine right to rule and will trample all over the partners it may have in government, be they independents or the rump of the Progressive Democrat party. Indeed, during the TV debate between the potential Tanaistes, Dick Spring made the point to Mary Harney (which was not rebutted) that she had had a dreadful three years in power with Fianna Fail. Deja vu, perhaps? - Yours, etc.,
Monkstown Road,
Co Dublin.