Sir, – Robert Dowds's revisionism on Labour's role in government sadly appears to be par for the course in a party that continues to delude itself about its conduct when last in government (Letters, March 7th).
Let us be very clear here. The government that Labour were a part of cut the respite grant for carers for the disabled. While it is true that the financial situation was difficult at that time, Labour along with their coalition partners chose to target the most vulnerable sector of society while seemingly choosing to protect less vulnerable sectors.
Those of us with vulnerable family members have not forgotten and a change of leadership won’t change that. The coverage given to Labour in the media vastly dwarfs their level of support from the Irish electorate. Labour to many is simply a lobby group for a sector of society that already appears to be very well represented.
If Labour wants to atone for its conduct when last in government, it could start by calling out well-paid permanent health service management for their long-standing failure to deliver services to vulnerable citizens and children with disabilities in particular.
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When I hear a Labour TD willing to put the needs of children with disabilities ahead of the needs of well-paid HSE and Department of Health senior management, then they might be worth voting for. – Yours, etc,
RUARY MARTIN,
Sandyford,
Dublin 18.
Sir, –In an attempt to explain the removal of Alan Kelly as Labour Party leader, Jim O'Sullivan attributes it to the former's involvement with the government of 2011 to 2016 (Letters, March 5th). Those events preceded Mr Kelly's appointment to the leadership by several years. That it was also a remarkably successful period of restoration in our public finances must, I accept, be regarded as a matter of subjective opinion. But it cannot explain the removal of a leader who was in post for only two years.
I would suggest the real issue is that the political space once occupied by Labour in Ireland has simply vanished.
The standard view is that our recent governments have been right of centre. Looking at their actions though, this is difficult to fathom.
One might summarise right-wing politics as endorsing low personal or general taxation, a nationalistic or pro-military outlook and support for traditional religious values. And the left takes the opposite views. Our tax system is among the most progressive in the world, with about half of income tax paid by 5 per cent of earners. The words “nationalist” and Fine Gael are rarely if ever linked. Our recent governments have run referendums, and campaigned successfully in them, on matters entirely contrary to traditional religious views. Our lack of significant military spending is a serious and growing concern. And given all of that, Ireland enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the world.
It is difficult in that situation for a man of Mr Kelly’s intelligence and integrity to agitate strongly against Government policies. One would imagine, indeed, had Labour been running the country for the last 10 years and engineered the realities outlined above, the party would point to them as major achievements. Even in matters of inequality – private medical insurance and education, for example – we are remarkably inexpensive and accessible by international standards.
Those seeking to place themselves to the left of our recent coalitions ultimately adopt very extreme, probably untenable, positions therefore. Policies to tax only a minuscule fraction of the population, and with this dubious stream of income to correct all social problems are clearly nonsensical. Just this week we’ve seen our MEPs, who style themselves as leftist, unwilling to vote to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Credit is due to Labour and Mr Kelly for having the integrity not to descend to such indefensible positions. There are few better places to live than Ireland, perhaps because successive governments have migrated toward the positions of socialist and labour parties worldwide. One might argue that the work of the Labour Party is largely done. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.
Sir, – I see the Labour Party had their own extinction rebellion last week. – Yours, etc,
COLM Ó FATHARTA,
Rathgar,
Dublin 6.