Madam, - Odran Flynn (Opinion and Analysis, August 11th) is right to say that the future for Labour is not just about "branding". But otherwise his analysis of the challenges facing the party is flawed and simplistic.
Mr Flynn, a member of the Progressive Democrats, argues that the reliable base for Labour has always been in "working-class areas" and suggests that Labour has recently lost traditional working-class support to Fianna Fáil. This conclusion owes more to urban mythology than rational analysis.
Labour won roughly equal support from middle-class and working class voters in the 1992 election; this trend has been maintained in the past two elections, though without the same level of support from either category.
It is obvious that Fianna Fáil secures considerably more support from all sectors of the population, including the working class, than any other party. This is hardly a new phenomenon, as Mr Flynn seeks to suggest: the strength of Fianna Fáil's working class support dates back to the 1930s. Similarly, Labour has shown an ability to win middle-class support at least since the 1980s.
This does not mean that Labour should be complacent about its poor electoral performance, but debate on the Party's future should be based on factual analysis, not lazy assumptions and outdated clichés about class.
Labour certainly needs to debate its future and show how its values are relevant to new social and economic realities. But, equally, the party should not pay too much attention to prophecies of doom pronounced by its political opponents. Labour will be relevant long after the PDs have ceased to exist. - Yours, etc,
JOHN WALSH, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath.