Sir, – What is so difficult to understand about “No junk mail, please”? This request on my letter box was ignored by many candidates when posting unsolicited election literature last time round. When challenged, the reply was that head office had instructed them to ignore such signs.
My petty but understandable response this time will be to eliminate their candidates from my preference voting. – Yours, etc,
W ARTHUR TANNER,
Dublin 14.
Sir, – Now that we know the date of the general election, it may be appropriate to recall that the late Christopher Hitchens said that the only people truly bound by campaign promises were the voters who believed them. – Yours, etc,
CORMAC MEEHAN,
Bundoran,
Co Donegal.
A chara, – The vast majority of Irish people regard the right to life as the most important of all human rights. Powerful and well-resourced forces are trying to get us to accept that life in the womb is less important.
We will shortly have an opportunity to make our views known to our politicians.
Those who think the right to life of the unborn is more important than any of the many other important issues in the forthcoming election should make sure to vote for those who unequivocally support that right, and the retention of the Eighth Amendment to our Constitution. – Is mise,
PÁDRAIG
Ó BEAGLAOICH,
Gaillimh.
Sir, – Given the present climate change crisis, is it now appropriate to ask prospective candidates, “Is there anything you can do about the weather?” – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN TREACY,
Drumree, Co Meath.
Sir, – Perhaps the body politic would be improved if candiates without backbones were not allowed to stand. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL NASH,
Dublin 2.
Sir, – Three weeks of pledges and promises and then business as usual, with each new and grandiose commitment consigned to the bin. I cannot wait for it to be all over. – Yours, etc,
DEREK MacHUGH,
Bray, Co Wicklow.
Sir, – Fintan O'Toole claims that the outgoing Dáil was "elected with a huge mandate for radical democratic change" ("Why we will not miss the 31st Dáil" , Opinion & Analysis, February 2nd).
Wherever did he get that idea from? The people of Ireland elected that Dáil to punish the previous government’s incompetent handling of the economy and, hopefully, set us on the path to recovery. That we did not want radical change was made clear when the referendum on giving Oireachtas committees more power to investigate wrongdoing was defeated in November 2011.
During the last five years, I have noticed that the mantra of radical democratic change is repeated by many in the media but not by the vast majority of the population. Maybe Fintan should take a bold leap and deal with the down-to-earth and practical matters that most people in this stable and functioning democracy consider important. – Yours, etc,
SAM HAMILL,
Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
Sir, – Democracy involves listening to the would-be rulers as they try to convince us that they are fit to rule, and then voting for or against them. We are about to do just that again, yet many of our journalists seem to think this is the most extraordinary, exciting, sensational and newsworthy thing to have happened since Rome fell.
I suppose it all makes work but the hours expended on television and newsprint in simply telling us that the Taoiseach asked the President to dissolve the Dáil would have drained the Shannon, if so diverted. And the hot air expended on speculating on the possible date of polling day could have generated enough power to keep Castlebar cosy for a month.
Reporters need to calm down, speak in a quiet voice and just give us the facts. – Yours, etc,
RODNEY DEVITT,
Sandymount, Dublin 4.
Sir, – I was quite aghast to read that the JNLR survey showed RTÉ Radio 1 "kept its recovery going in the final months of 2015" by adding 64,000 listeners over the year ("Radio 1 builds recovery as Today FM slides", February 4th).
While I have no problem with this trend in itself, it is deeply unnerving that Fine Gael has repeated the phrase “keep the recovery going” so consistently that we now find it entering the mainstream lexicon, just as similarly reprehensible phrases such as “going forward” have in recent times.
Funny how “Gilmore for taoiseach” never caught on. – Yours, etc.
JAKE MULCAHY,
Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
Sir, – Can Fianna Fáil explain why it has taken it only 24 hours to blitz Dungloe with election posters, whereas in the weeks of campaigning for last year’s marriage equality referendum it did not manage to put up one? – Yours, etc,
KENNETH HARPER,
Burtonport, Co Donegal.
A chara, – On Wednesday morning, less than 20 minutes after the Taoiseach announced to the Dáil his intention to hold a general election, I received a letter in the post requesting the use of our school premises as a polling station on February 26th! Is this a record? Or did Enda not keep his secret very well? – Is mise,
JOHN KELLY,
Bennekerry, Co Carlow.
Sir, – When asked to explain how his party’s economic policies add up, Enda Kenny said that he would not do so as the general public does not understand economics. Does he not understand that “Paddy likes to know”? – Yours, etc,
BRIAN CULLEN,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.