A chara, - I agree with Mr Dermot Ahern, Minister for Social and Community Affairs when he says (Opinion, April 9th): "This Boston versus Berlin argument is, at best, spurious." Indeed, may I go further and suggest that those advancing the "Boston versus Berlin" simply reveal their own political naivety?
Which Boston and which Berlin are they referring to? Is it a Christian Democrat or Social Democrat Berlin? Is it a George W. Bush, Republican Boston, or a Clinton/Gore, Democratic Boston?
Furthermore, the comparison is based on a false and outdated definitions of social democracy. Many social democrats - in both Europe and the US - believed in reducing personal taxation, including Schroeder/Blair in their "third way" and Clinton and his labour secretary, Robert Reich.
Michael Noonan recently stated where he stands in this debate. His Dublin party conference address "unashamedly and profoundly" asserted his Berlin affiliations. Well, at least Fine Gael remains consistent on this subject. Its founders proudly faced Berlin too. - Is mise,
Derek Mooney, Eglinton Wood, Donnybrook, Dublin 4