Sir, - About 70 per cent of votes cast were for our slightly left of centre main parties. Evidently that is what people want.
Recent elections have given minority parties or individuals the balance of power. These have exacted an ever increasing price for their few votes. In the recent government the Left, with about 20 per cent of votes, occupied Finance and the key Ministries for implementing doctrinaire policies.
The tail wagged the dog - then the dog turned and bit the tail. The electorate turned away from the Left and the PDs, wrongly perceived as the Thatcherite right, also suffered.
Now the extreme republicans, boasting their mandate of 2 per cent, wish to dictate foreign policy. Other special interest groups, having little or no national relevance, exert similar pressure. This is a perversion of democracy.
The electoral system needs reform to give more effect to the views of the majority. For example:
1. The two major parties might reunite and forget the Civil War, which has been irrelevant or several generations. This would be dangerous because a party permanently in power becomes corrupt.
2. We could give a bonus to the larger parties under a list system.
3. Smaller constituencies, with three or even two seats, might give clearer decisions. in five seat constituencies there are so many counts that the last seats are awarded on preferences so low as to be insulting.
The present system is unsatisfactory because it gives an unstable, fragmented Dail and does not give effect to the wishes of the majority. - Yours, etc.
The Elms,
Donnybrook,
Dublin 4.