Madam, – Stephen Collins is right: we do need a general election (Opinion, November 22nd) – but not because of any sense of humiliation. John Gormley is also right: we do need a general election but we need it now, not after Christmas when our existing catastrophic Government will have had a chance to lock us into deal without having any mandate to do so.
What we need now is an election which will put in place, as quickly as possible, a team mandated by the people to negotiate on their behalf. The Government has the trust and confidence of very few of our citizens and simply cannot be allowed to put in place any IMF/ECB binding bailout plan. I’m sure both the IMF and the ECB understand that point and that they too would be happier to conclude a deal with a strong government which has wide support rather than with the tattered remains of a government far past its sell-by date. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – In the Canadian Federal election of 1993, the ruling Progressive Conservative Party of the then prime minister Kim Campbell lost more than half of its vote from 1988 and all but two of its 151 seats.
After the disgraceful way in which this Fianna Fáil/Green Government has acted, can we hope that the Irish electorate will, once and for all, follow the example of Canada and consign both Fianna Fáil and the Greens to history by way of a complete clear-out of the parties which have brought so much shame and ignominy on our country and people? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Following the Green Party’s decision to finally put this Government (and the general public) out of its misery, perhaps we can ask that the day to be set in January 2011 for the election should be a Sunday. In this way perhaps we may enable as many citizens to go to the polls as possible and have some say in the formation of the next government.
At the same time, such a decision would also mean families already under stress wouldn’t have to organise child care for school- going children whose schools are turned into polling stations.
However, I am not holding my breath on this one – since when have politicans wanted as many people as possible to go to the polls? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The Government must go now. If the budget is manipulated through the Dáil without the support of the political opposition and, more importantly, the majority of our people, there will be violence and civil strife on the streets of Ireland.
With the Government gone there can be some attempt at consensus between the other political parties, to present a programme for action to the Irish people which can also receive international support.
The lies, half-truths and attempts at political manipulation continue from the present Government, as it attempts to shackle an incoming administration with a deal with the IMF and EU, together with a budget which targets those with little power or political clout.
I have not in my lifetime experienced such latent anger among the people in our local communities. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – In the interest of energy conservation, I hope the Green Party will understand that I won’t be opening my front door to their canvassers during a cold January election. Saving the planet can feel so good. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The Green Party has always positioned itself on the side of the righteous. They now have a small chance to redeem themselves. I suggest before this Dáil is dissolved the Greens propose legislation to radically curtail the benefits to retiring ministers and TDs. I believe they would command a majority in the Dáil. There should be no reward for failure! – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It is said a week is a long time in politics, but to put the whole country on hold until the latter part January next year to have a general election is wrong.
We need a general election immediately to bring political stability which will in turn help this country to focus on producing with the IMF/ECB a stable economic programme. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – As the country is thrown deeper and deeper into crisis with every minute that passes, surely we all need to pull together to extract ourselves out of this situation? The Greens’ timing could not be any worse and shows a serious lack of commitment to our country. It’s about time we put politics to one side and merged the best brains from each party and the business world together, and infuse optimism and reality back into our souls. We once had a great little nation; together, we can achieve that again, but only together. It’s in all of our best interests to do so. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Nothing like a general election for maintaining the illusion that we are still governing our own country. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Which is worse I wonder? The incompetence of the current administration, the stomach-churning hypocrisy of the various shades of opposition, or the narrow self-interest of gombeen Independents? Ah shure let’s have another election. The country needs another wave of ministerial and TDs’ pensions and a slightly different set of 166 overpaid and over-expensed underachievers.
When are we going to say that we’ve had enough of this system of “government”. Give us a Dáil of no more than 20 politicians who will work together to do justice to the creative and dynamic population that we are blessed with. And by all means let them have a pension at 65 if they are competent enough to stay employed (by us) till then. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The putrid spectacle of Jackie Healy-Rae and Michael Lowry on RTÉ Radio's News at One(November 22nd) putting their own political hides and the narrow interests of their own constituencies ahead of the future of the nation and the Irish people by threatening to vote against the budget, was truly one of the most grotesque and sickening events of all the grotesque and sickening events of recent days.
In the interests of stable and responsible government, we must wipe the scourge of the “Independent TD” from Ireland’s electoral map, and our next Dáil should enact reforming legislation to do just that. Time to rip up every parish pump across the land and have the IMF sell them off for scrap metal on our behalf. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The picture of the two Brians (Front page, November 22nd) reminds me of the two Ronnies: “And it’s goodbye from him, and it’s goodbye from me”. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The imminent general election offers us a chance to give an invaluable gift to our children and grandchildren, namely the destruction of the Fianna Fáil party and its evisceration from the body politic.
Just think what a boost it would be to future generations not to have to mop up after the incompetence, the lies, the spin and the greed, as our generation and previous generations have had to do.
The electorate may never have such a chance again. We need to grasp this opportunity with both hands. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – In view of the crisis our country is going through, and the possibility of a general election any time soon, I sincerely hope that the parties concerned will not have postersprinted with their mug shots on them. We are all sick of looking at them at this stage.
Also, why hasn’t our President spoken out on our behalf? Am I missing something? Surely she could give the people of Ireland some sort of verbal support? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – John Gormley has made the right call. Labour and Fine Gael should stop calling for a pre-Christmas election, and agree a budget with the Government; they will have to agree something very similar anyway when they come into power, which will be very soon now. There should be no horse-trading whatsoever with Michael Lowry, Jackie Healy-Rae, or the FF dissidents.
Yes, Fianna Fáil has utterly betrayed us. But we have no alternative now but to bow to the inevitable, except in one vital sense: we need a total transformation in our society, and the Greens are a vital part of that. Throwing them (as opposed to FF and their cynical Independent former allies) to the wolves now indeed would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Let this not be our blackest day but our opportunity to rid ourselves of all those peoples and practices that led us here. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. We can do it. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Having been involved with a number of businesses in the past that have been the subject of aggressive retrenchment and austerity measures similar to what this country is going through, one of the essential ingredients of the success of such measures is to ensure that management lead by example and “walk the talk”.
Running the country is no different to running a large corporate enterprise, and it is therefore critical that the management and top brass of Ireland Ltd ensure that the consequences of what has and is to be further experienced by their “employees” is equally felt within their own ranks.
For starters, it is time to call a halt to the fleet of government vehicles, the government jet and the perks. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Let them fly Ryanair, walk, drive themselves in their own vehicles at their own expense, or take public transport like everybody else.
Then let’s move on to their inefficient departments, and the inefficient public sector created by this Government. Let’s see how much can be saved here. – Yours, etc,