Madam, - The most depressing aspect of the Taoiseach's recent travails is the widespread opinion that the proffered alternative does not inspire people either. Neither the Fianna Fáil front bench, nor prominent Fine Gael or Labour figures have distinguished themselves in recent days.
The Taoiseach gives the impression of a man drowning in his own verbal sludge, a sludge more toxic to himself than anything the watery and weak Opposition can throw at him. Michael McNe'erdowell swings like a crazy pendulum, with more changeable emotional states than you can find in a psychoanalyst's handbook.
A succession of Cabinet ministers has lined up to support Bertie, saying that what he did was "not illegal or wrong at the time" because the ethics legislation was not in place. Presumably these solid citizens believe it was all right to murder, steal, bear false witness, etc before God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. God only knows what these people were up to during their Catechism classes but they can't have been very attentive.
W.C. Fields once aptly said: "I never vote for any politician; I only vote against them".
There are a handful of honourable exceptions in Dáil Éireann but you have to look very hard to find them. In the next general election I will be giving my preferences in descending order to the politicians who least disgust me. I recommend others to do the same. - Yours, etc,
DAVID FAY, Leix Road, Cabra, Dublin 7.
Madam, - Dr Garret FitzGerald states (Opinion & Analysis, October 7th) that the Taoiseach has lost the capacity to ensure that members of his Government observe high standards of public probity. I think that this is a very unjust assessment.
Look more steadily at the overall context of Mr Bertie Ahern's public life over several decades. He has worked hard and effectively to make the State a better place and to make the whole island more peaceful. For these efforts he deserves to be ranked with Sean Lemass. His motivation has been clear and consistent.
It is very unjust of commentators to invite the public to re-define the character of the Taoiseach on the basis of transactions in the 1990s which were clearly not part of a pattern. A man or woman of integrity in high office can make honest mistakes.
In the past, bishops and priests were powerful figures in Ireland. Some abused this power and did a lot of damage to reputations and livelihoods. Recall the treatment of John McGahern and the Fethard-on-Sea boycott. Archbishop McQuaid, however, was convinced of his own rightness and that he was acting for the common good. In Ireland in 2006, we tell ourselves that we are free from all forms of authoritarian rule. Opinion-formers generally celebrate the decline of Church authority.
For the last two weeks however, journalists and Opposition politicians have exercised a more lethal kind of power in their treatment of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. Day by day, his reputation has been undermined and assaulted in cynical, hostile commentaries. The public was encouraged hour by hour to expect "new revelations". John Waters and Eoghan Harris were honourable exceptions to the media consensus.
The big loser in all of this was not Irish politics (with all respect to Garret FitzGerald), but a basic respect for the dignity of the human person, and his or her right to his good name. - Yours, etc,
Fr BREIFNE WALKER, Whitehall Road, Dublin 12.
Madam, - We truly have an incredible Taoiseach. - Yours, etc,
WILLIAM C. LOVE, Kilteragh Pines, Dublin 18.