Sir, – The piece by TDs Ruth Coppinger and Paul Murphy sheds a lot of light on the actual options that face the voters in next year's general election, but perhaps not in a way that was intended by the authors ("Doubts over Sinn Féin's resolve to change politics", December 9th).
The Socialist Party, the Anti-Austerity Alliance, and People Before Profit have been trying to convince people that somehow there is an alternative to the current coalition that could be made up of themselves, Sinn Féin and whatever medley of Independents are knocking around in the next Dáil.
But judging by the published attack by the Anti-Austerity Alliance on Sinn Féin, it is clear that there is no possibility whatsoever of a “broad left alliance” forming after the next election. In fact they have done voters a service by laying bare the fact that there is little or no prospect of that ever happening. This just a few weeks after Mr Murphy said that he would he go as far as voting for Gerry Adams as taoiseach!
The Anti-Austerity Alliance strategy is clearly to appeal to the “anti-everything” element of support that Sinn Féin has captured, by drawing attention to Sinn Féin’s record of implementing austerity in Northern Ireland and by painting it as an “establishment” party in the South.
That’s fair enough, but if the various groupings can’t work together in opposition, how on earth could they work together in government? The idea of a broad-left coalition was never a runner.
Nor will voters be assured by the convoluted strategy that the Anti-Austerity Alliance says it will pursue after the next election. It says that if a government can be formed “without the establishment parties”, it will vote to allow its formation. But will it actually participate in such a government? God forbid! It’s quite clear from the piece that not only would it run a mile from having to actually take responsibility for something, but it would actively campaign against the very government that it voted in!
Talk about a recipe for instability and economic disaster.
If voters are looking to support parties that are actually putting forward workable solutions to the challenges we face, they really need to look beyond Sinn Féin and the SP, AAA, and PBP alphabet soup on the left. – Yours, etc,
PAMELA KEARNS,
Templeogue,
Dublin 6W.