Sir, How can one vote for Miss Mary Harney? She leads a party of latter day Thatcherites which on one hand promises tax cuts of £2,100 million and on the other hand proposes increased expenditure in other areas - water pensions, etc. No believable explanation is forthcoming of where this money is coming from. If one is to rule out increasing the national debt (and one hopes that it is ruled out - one remembers 1977 and Fianna Fail's bribery of the electorate with their own money), the only possible source is cuts in public spending. Just imagine the cuts needed in health education, etc., to save £2,100 million! Their proposed reduction of 25,000 jobs in the public sector would be just the beginning. How can one vote for Mr Bertie Ahern? He leads a party which cannot get an overall majority, but whose only possible coalition partners are the right wing Progressive Democrats. Already the PD plans for public service job cuts and widespread privatisation have embarrassed Fianna Fail. There does not seem to be agreement between the two parties on the vital issue of the single currency. Fianna Fail has also distanced itself from PD proposals on single mothers.
How can one vote for a coalition which has Michael McDowell and Brian Cowen as leading spokespersons? They are both in need of Machiavelli's advice to an aspiring leader: " his behaviour should be tempered by humanity and prudence so that overconfidence does not make him rash, or excessive distrust make him unbearable.
It is difficult to see how the "core values" of Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats can be reconciled. Such a coalition hardly holds out the prospect of lasting a full term in government. Yours, etc.,
Ardmore,
Muff,
Co Donegal.