Sir, – Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil now have the numbers for stable government, if only they could put the nation first! Old divisions should be buried and both parties should accept electoral reality. It seems that a minority government will be the final outcome. I admire the Independents who are engaging with government formation. The fact though is that Fianna Fáil support is required. It is interesting that Fianna Fáil claims it doesn’t have a mandate to elect a Fine Gael taoiseach, yet may facilitate this by abstention next Thursday! Go figure that one out.
Why not face political reality by entering a partnership of Fine Gael, some Independents and Fianna Fáil? Such a partnership would be more stable than a minority government.
Stable government is still needed in Ireland. There’s still a lot of uncertainty out there. We took the hit for economic and political mismanagement in the past. Let this be left in the past, like the Civil War political legacy. – Yours, etc,
JOE HARRISON,
Spanish Point, Co Clare.
Sir, – I am in favour of another election. In the past governments have forced the electorate to keep voting in referendums until we made the decision they wanted. Our turn now! – Yours, etc,
CHARLES S QUAIN,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – I want my grandchildren to grow up in a more socially equitable Ireland. Up to 20 years ago we were gradually constructing one, then we went backwards. Now we have the immediate challenges arising from a possible Brexit; also in the longer term there are the global challenges posed by massive migration movements that are taking place throughout the world, as well as planetary warming. There is the transfer of power from ordinary people to the very rich that is taking place in almost every state. To cope with these, Ireland needs a government. We have recently elected potential national leaders, but they insist on playing games. Even more disappointingly, none of them is addressing in public the fundamental flaws in our society. These give rise to the numerous impediments to a balanced social development. These fundamental barriers are the lack of balance between the rights accruing to the owners of property and their responsibilities; as well as the fact that the level of repayment of our national debt prevents the investment that is needed by our social development. Our recent history shows that we have faced and overcome equally challenging obstacles.
Go to it, lads and lassies. Restart the creation of an Ireland that I and others can be proud to pass on to future generations. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK GRANT,
Phibsborough, Dublin 7.
Sir, – Since the election, Fianna Fáil TDs have rejected going into a coalition government with Fine Gael on the basis that the grassroots wouldn’t stand for it.
Perhaps they should instead pay more attention to the voters. In most of the 17 constituencies where a Fine Gael candidate was still in the running when the last Fianna Fáil candidate was eliminated, Fine Gael received a larger share of Fianna Fáil transfers than any other party. In Micheál Martin’s own constituency, Cork South Central, one-quarter of his surplus transferred to outgoing Fine Gael minister Simon Coveney, with a further 15 per cent going to Fine Gael’s Jerry Buttimer.
In contrast, in Donegal, the only constituency where no Fine Gael candidate was still in the race when the last Fianna Fáil candidate was eliminated, almost three-fifths of the Fianna Fail votes were non-transferable.
So what are they waiting for? – Yours, etc,
MARK HAYDEN,
Saurian, France.