Madam, - The defection to private industry of Tom Parlon from his rather grandiose position of president of the Progressive Democrats must lead us to believe that senior figures in the PDs see no future for their party, even if Fianna Fáil and the Green Party do.
The PDs effectively won the battle but lost the war. They should be given credit for their programme of tax reforms: no party now would seriously suggest raising direct taxes, except perhaps from the "super-rich". However the PDs' cupboard was bare when it came to a sustainable ideology. What was so striking about their election literature was the almost complete lack of a vision for Irish society. Their whole campaign was negative.
They misread the direction of public opinion in the past few years, Extra disposable income was suddenly not enough for a more mature electorate. There seemed a certain futility in spending all around us. We wanted something more rewarding for our new-found wealth. Perhaps a decent health service, good public transport, good planning, clean energy, some hope of a solution to traffic gridlock and some government intervention on house prices.
It would be ungenerous not to give the PDs some credit also for their "liberal agenda" which struck a chord with Irish people at the time. It would be foolish, however, to suggest that they have a future beyond the fall of the current government. The underlying direction in Irish politics is to the left, even if the results of the last election do not seem to demonstrate this. - Yours, etc,
ALAN McPARTLAND, Grange Court, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.