Sir, – Anne Harris's call to the Labour leader to consider her position in relation to Sinn Féin is timely ("Will Ivana Bacik resist Mary Lou McDonald's siren call?", Opinion & Analysis, March 22nd). Sinn Féin's letter to diplomats of the European Union (a body which that party once abhorred) presupposes a border poll. The holy grail is a united Ireland, even if the poll is won by just 1 per cent.
Ivana Bacik now has an opportunity to distance herself and Labour from a request that ignores the wishes of many in Northern Ireland and certainly does nothing to promote better community relations. – Yours, etc,
MARGARET LEE,
Newport,
:fill(white):background_color(white)/static.themebuilder.aws.arc.pub/irishtimes/1647534191476.png)
Co Tipperary.
Sir, – I don’t think Anne Harris should fret unduly about the possibility of Mary Lou as taoiseach and Ivana Bacik as tánaiste.
The polls show increasing support among the electorate for Sinn Féin’s more left-oriented policies, while the Labour Party is accused of losing its appeal among those on the left. Harris’s proposed coalition might have a lot of merit to both parties.
In addition, we would gain both a female taoiseach and a female tánaiste!
Of course, we have found out that male leaders are not great simply by virtue of being men, but we do need more women in power to test this thesis on women. – Yours, etc,
EVELYN MAHON,
Dublin 2.