Sir, - Here's a puzzle for you. On September 30th last, you reported that the gap between rich and poor was the second most important political issue for the electorate. On December 19th, Sean Healy explained in your paper how the Budget betrayed the poorest people in Irish society and widened the rich/poor gap substantially. Yet last Friday you reported that 71 per cent of the electorate think the Budget was good for the country. Is it that they don't know what the Budget did to inequality? Or that they don't care? - Yours, etc.,
John Baker, Equality Studies Centre, UCD, Dublin 4.