Madam, – Article 16.4.1°of the Constitution states “Polling at every general election for Dáil Éireann shall as far as practicable take place on the same day throughout the country.” The early voting for islanders is certainly not in tune with this provision as there is no “practicable” reason that we can’t vote on the same day as the rest of the country. Surely it’s way past time that the early voting on some of our islands was reviewed. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – One pole in Dunshaughlin today displays posters for Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Tom Duffy’s Circus. Never has it been so easy to make up one’s mind. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Friday, January 28th: First canvassers arrive (Fine Gael). They didn’t want to know about the farce that is the Dublin Airport Authority, nor the even bigger farce that is Aer Lingus and the share-option scheme of its CEO. A sad portent of what we may expect from Fine Gael. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Your report (Home News, February 1st) on the offer by David McWillams to provide free economic advice to aspiring Independent candidates in the upcoming general election omitted to say whether or not such advice would come with a suitable health warning.
Mr McWilliams was the economist who sold the idea of the blanket bank guarantee to Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan back in 2008, and we all know how well that has turned out.
Any Independent candidate canvassing my vote will be asked if s/he is a recipient of advice from Mr McWilliams. If the answer is Yes, then my answer will be No. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Remember Fianna Fáil, thou wert but Sinn Féin pre- 1926 and into Sinn Féin thou shalt return post-February 25th. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – On Irish radio, I heard the new Fianna Fáil leader being referred to, by a British analyst, as “Mikhail Martin”. Mispronunciation, or an inventive effort to seduce the Left? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – We face huge problems because of an economic system that was fuelled by greed. There’s much in the media about fixing the system, but little about changing it to one that has our real needs at heart. Perhaps that’s something for voters to keep in mind when the canvassers come calling. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – We should carefully plan our voting strategy. It will be just as important that we elect an effective opposition as it will be that we have a strong government in the next Dáil. The outgoing administration made mistakes, but the Opposition were asleep at the wheel. Labour, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin not only allowed these errors, but in some cases clamoured for more excess. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Fianna Fáil’s latest election poster features a smiling Micheál Martin with his party’s new slogan “Real Plan, Better Future”. If Fianna Fáil’s previous plans are anything to go by, I can indeed look forward to a better future. Whether it will be in Australia or Canada, though, remains to be seen. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Newton Emerson Opinion, February 2nd) takes issue (again) with Sinn Féin. This time his gripe is with Gerry Adams and his perceived lack of economic expertise. Might I remind Mr Emerson, in case he has forgotten, that the economic wasteland that is Ireland of today, was not caused by Sinn Féin. It was caused almost exclusively by so-called economic experts. Somebody infamously said about the ridiculous salaries paid to TDs that if you pay monkey nuts you get monkeys. Monkeys couldn’t have done a worse job for this country than that done by Fianna Fáil and its “ economic experts”. – Yours, etc,