A chara, - Like my former teacher John Fallon from Boyle (September 30th), I deeply regret that there will not be a presidential election this year.
However, it is the pleasure of watching the finest President this country has seen trouncing her opponents by a margin approaching four to one which I will be denied.
The inevitability of such a result was so blindingly obvious that it is hard to fathom why so much credit is given to the Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny, for political astuteness. The corollary, of course, is that what does shine through is the appalling judgment of the Labour's Pat Rabbitte, who once again tried to play it cute and have it both ways, realising only at the last moment the scale of the victory which he was handing to Fianna Fáil.
Ironically, the utter disarray which the non-election has caused on the Opposition benches means that it is Fianna Fáil which have come out best from the whole débâcle, with the presidency secured and not a penny spent.
No wonder Bertie Ahern couldn't stop smiling last week! - Is mise,
DAVID CARROLL,
Castle Gate,
Dublin 2.