Sir, - Fintan O'Toole (Opinion, June 13th) did not go far enough when he bade John Bruton quit the political stage. It is clear that Fianna Fail should be allowed a length period in opposition to consider what it stands for and how it should be run. The absence of a strong social democratic party capable of taking over will probably result in an indecisive outcome to the next election, to be followed by a coalition of those who dislike each other least.
It is time for the main opposition parties to merge or, if that is not possible, for a new start by people from those parties and by others capable of giving the country effective government while believing that the common good is not a meaningless concept but the principal objective of politics. - Yours, etc.,
Myles McSwiney, Cleaver Avenue, Belfast 9.