Madam, - There is a democratic way for the Irish people to show what they think of the health service, namely general elections. In 2007, once again the electors preferred to trust the Government's imperfect efforts to the shrill negativity of the far left, who can never see a bandwagon without jumping on it.
For once, we have a Minister for Health who is determined to confront vested interests and attempt substantive reform. The repeated failure of opposition groups to make electoral headway on the health issue lies in their inability to offer a coherent alternative that goes beyond throwing yet more taxpayers' money into a black hole.
The organisers of Saturday's health rally in Dublin predicted a turnout of 70,000. Given that less than one tenth of that number turned up, is there any chance they might acknowledge the inconvenient reality that their negative views are not as widely shared as they claimed? - Yours, etc,
BILL WALSH, Craddockstown Rise, Naas, Co Kildare.
Madam, - Congratulations to the Dublin Council of Trade Unions for organising such an inspiring rally on Saturday last in protest against the state of the public health service and for announcing an ongoing campaign on this life and death issue. It has at last created an opportunity for people to express their smouldering anger and given them a means to resist the deliberate, orchestrated and sustained attack on the principle that, in sickness and in death, our value does not depend on our bank balance.
It is now no longer enough just to be a responsible citizen in order to share in the economic progress of the country. It is no longer enough to pay all appropriate taxes, to view a culture of bribery and backhanders as immoral, to contribute to the welfare of our community according to our means and abilities in order to expect that the new wealth of this country would be used to look after its people in their times of greatest need. Do our political masters really believe that it is appropriate to treat the ill and the dying as figures for exploitation by private individuals in their pursuit of enhanced wealth, power and influence?
Or is the effective governance of the country already in the hands of the new elite class of unelected opportunists, circling their less powerful fellow citizens as vultures circle their prey?
The notion of public service for the public good is fading fast. The public health service may well be the biggest victim of its demise. Is this what our democracy is for?
The state of the public health service? It would make you sick just thinking about it! - Yours, etc,
EAMON THORNTON, Boyne Lodge, Drogheda.