A chara, – While it was a very enjoyable debate and it was great to see the five leaders debating issues and being put under pressure, I could only laugh when I heard the Fianna Fáil leader going on about fraud. Immediately I thought of his former leader Charles Haughey and his ex-Minister for Justice Ray Burke. Should I say more? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Stupefyingly, the Croke Park agreement was only mentioned once – fleetingly – in the RTÉ party leaders’ debate. Was there a compact between the leaders that it was undebatable? What will foreign analysts have made of the leaders’ convenient and significant omission? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I've just watched the five leaders on Frontlinestanding like the crew of Star Ship Enterprise speaking of the science (and fiction) of our economy. I felt like shouting: ''Beam me up Scottie!''. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – During the five leaders’ debate, Enda Kenny commented that Micheál Martin’s contribution was like “a chapter from Rip Van Winkle”. At the risk of being pedantic, it should be pointed out that Rip Van Winkle is a short story and has no chapters. As a former teacher I am certain Mr Kenny would, upon reflection, appreciate the point. Eamon Gilmore was so excited and persuaded by Mr Kenny’s learned reference that he also cited the same story by Washington Irving later in the debate.
Perhaps a sign of things to come. In any event, I feel the analogy is misplaced. If like Rip Van Winkle, Mr Martin had had the good fortune to have actually disappeared for the past 20 years, he would have the excuse he needs to distance himself from his party’s legacy of the past decade. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I noted with interest in the Frontline leaders’ debate that the Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin admonished Gerry Adams for talking about fraud “down here in the Republic”.
I thought that remark ironic. Mr Martin seemingly implies Mr Adams had a lesser right in appearing at the leaders’ debate because he is from the North. Some people in the South have this opinion also. What of our head of state, President Mary McAleese? Was she not elected President as the Fianna Fáil candidate in 1997 and is she not also from Belfast? Is Mr Martin therefore implying his President is out of place “down here in the Republic”? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Did all the leaders except John Gormley use the same image consultant – dark suits, blue shirts and red ties — or was there an agreed uniform which the leader of the Greens did not wish to wear? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I, and I am sure many others, found Micheál Martin's attack on Gerry Adams in the Frontlineleaders' debate completely out of order.
My people are originally Protestants from Fermanagh. However, through circumstances, I was born and raised a Catholic in the Republic. In the 1960s I was a manager in a factory in Northern Ireland and experienced at first hand the horrible religious divide where Catholics were treated as second-class citizens and were most likely unemployed. No Catholics were recruited, even if they wanted to be members, into the Northern Ireland police force. But it was when the British army perpetrated the crimes of Bloody Sunday that hundreds of decent Catholic people poured into illegal military organisations.
The rest is history, but, over the years, men like Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness have put their lives on the line when they steered Sinn Féin from an active military organisation, where inevitably there were terrible atrocities committed, down the political road to the Belfast Agreement. Mr Martin’s party, Fianna Fáil, has often highlighted their republican name when it suited it.
Remember the arms smuggling in the late 1960s when members of his party were involved and were duly removed by Jack Lynch from the government of the day. I have never voted for Sinn Féin. However, on this occasion, for what it has helped to achieve in Northern Ireland, its logical approach to the bank crisis and its approach to ECB-IMF bailout, I intend to give it my No 1 vote. I want to say “Thank you Gerry Adams and all of you who were instrumental in bringing peace to Northern Ireland which is also part of my country.” – Yours, etc,
Madam, – When we put five party leaders on TV and let them have at one another, we don’t get analysis. We get clichés and put- downs, which somehow are miraculously interpreted as good debate. A phrase was used in Monday night’s programme – “adversarial politics”.
I thought that it meant TDs are free to promote opposing values or policies. Apparently it means “ok, take the gloves off, we’re going for volume not content”.
I think a better way would be to have five “leaders questions” programmes. Each leader, with one or two supporting spokespeople, (eg their specialist on the health service or economic policy), to appear before a committee of well- known and respected political and economic analysts. The analysts should come up with a set of questions to be furnished to the leaders before the first programme. Each leader would then have three minutes to synopsise their position on each of these questions. Then the analysts could put forward their challenges, and the leaders or spokespeople would have to address only those challenges.
No interruptions, no going back to make the same points over and over again and no references to the policies of another party to be permitted. This way, we might learn precisely what each manifesto will deliver, whom it will most adversely affect, and how long the recovery will take.
It would also allow each candidate a fairer opportunity to promote or defend their position, instead of the most belligerent getting all the air time and telling us nothing, while conveniently preventing anyone else from telling us anything.
I believe this would be a real example of “public service broadcasting”, regardless of who delivers it.
However, while all our politicians talk about “change”, I bet this is one change we won’t see. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Being an avid Fianna Fáil supporter for most of my life, I have been hurt and dismayed by this party and could not take the lies and indiscretions any more. I thought perhaps a Fine Gael and Labour government might serve my palate. The leaders’ debate on RTÉ was very commendable, and Eamon Gilmore and Enda Kenny spoke very well individually. But then they began to pull one another apart. How crazy is that when they hope to go into partnership with one another?
I’m so tired listening to all their drivel. It’s a great country both historically and scenically; and we have a great gift of the gab. It’s so sad we ended up as we have done. We are all guilty of being far too greedy during the good years. Let us get on with the work in progress: It will take 10 years at least. I still feel passionately about the country. – Yours, etc,