Sir, – Criticism of the selection by Sinn Féin of Cathal King as their candidate for the Dublin South West byelection by Women for Election and the National Women's Council of Ireland goes too far ("Sinn Féin criticised for choosing male byelection candidate", September 1st).
The primary consideration of an organisation or an ad hoc grouping in picking a candidate for an election is simple – is this the best person to get them a seat in the election and do the best job if elected?
To suggest, solely on the grounds of his gender, that Mr King has done something wrong by offering himself to his party as a candidate, or that the party in turn was wrong, is to go against the very equality that organisations such as the the National Women’s Council of Ireland have built their reputations on. In treating people equally, considerations of gender, age, sexual orientation or whatever else should not be factors in making the right choice for a role. Selecting or not selecting people for positions on the basis of their gender is wrong and in many other areas of life it’s illegal.– Yours, etc,
DANIEL K SULLIVAN,
College Gate,
Townsend Street,
Dublin 2.