Madam, - I note with interest the Taoiseach's declaration of his socialist credentials and hereby renounce any previous uncharitable opinions I may have held of his not being one to hide his light under a bushel. In this instance I must admit he had me completely in the dark until his announcement in last Saturday's Irish Times - but then, naïvely perhaps, I was operating merely on the basis of his Government's record on health, housing and social welfare.
I am so impressed by his innovative definition of socialism as the equal freedom of all to go to the zoo or the Botanic Gardens. Equality is a fine thing: a cat may look at a king, and the Taoiseach or anybody else may look at the elephants.
An unemployed single parent is as free as the Taoiseach to bring his or her children to the zoo on a Saturday morning. The only minor difference is that, presuming he or she has been fortunate enough to obtain the standard social welfare payments and has not fallen victim to the various restrictions on entitlement introduced by the current socialist regime, it will cost roughly a quarter of the family's weekly disposable income. - Yours, etc.,
ELEANOR EDMOND, Blessington Street, Dublin 7.
Madam, - Earlier this year, Bertie Ahern declared himself to be a Social Democrat. He has now declared himself a socialist. As he moves to the left with increasing velocity, can we expect him to become a Stalinist by Christmas? - Yours, etc.,
KEITH MARTIN, Camden Street, Dublin 2.
Madam, - On the day she became Minister for Health, the Tánaiste, champion of competition and the free market, told the Dáil she had no ideology.
Several weeks before, the Taoiseach told reporters in Inchydoney that he thought the terms "left" and "right" were meaningless. Now he says he is one of Ireland's few remaining socialists.
Is it any wonder the Government reneges on so much when its values change with the seasons? - Yours, etc.,
STEVE DINEEN, Lakelands Close, Kilmacud, Co Dublin.