A chara, – Greg Walsh (February 14th) confidently declares that if Marine Le Pen ends up facing Emmanuel Macron in the run-offs for the French presidential elections it will be "no contest" and she will lose. Similar confidence was expressed concerning Donald Trump's chances against Hillary Clinton – and we all know how that turned out. I personally would be a lot more sanguine about the contest not going Ms Le Pen's way if she ends up running against François Fillon. The voters seem to prefer candidates who are to the right of the political spectrum these days, which could leave Mr Macron struggling against her; and even though Mr Fillon has his flaws, at least he isn't so far to the right that he is positioned somewhere over the horizon. – Is mise,
Rev PATRICK G BURKE,
Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny.