Madam, – None of the parties on the campaign trail are touching on that which is really important. Rather they are droning on, in a meaningless sea of words, talking over each other in farcical TV debates.
I haven’t yet heard one party which has promised that the people who wrought ruin on this country will be criminally prosecuted. It’s just too infuriatingly Irish; the idea that we will forget about this uncontrolled arrogance at the upper echelons of our society with the rest of the chaos enveloping the country.
People might say it will do no good, but of course it will, this country is at breaking point and is in desperate need of catharsis. Who cares if there needs to be new legislation to prosecute? Whatever it takes, this is a party line I would like to hear. We are the ones who are being flayed alive for the crimes of the few and the fact none of the parties are talking about this suggests that they are all in on it, all scratching each other’s backs. It’s not an election we need, it’s a revolution. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The decision by the outgoing – but still in office – minority Fianna Fáil Government not to proceed with the next phase of the recapitalisation of the banks, but to pass this responsibility to the new incoming government, is nauseating in the extreme and yet another example of what is worst about Fianna Fáil. Even at this juncture in Ireland’s trials and tribulations it cannot resist the temptation to pull yet another stroke in an attempt to damage whatever new government comes into power, and which will now have the task of proceeding with the recapitalisation. No doubt the soldiers of destiny will be on their feet decrying the new government when it does this.
Are there no depths to which Fianna Fáil will lower itself even under the veneer of its latest squeaky clean leadership? If I were not married, with children and mortgaged I would happily emigrate to anywhere with a reasonable climate and where politics had risen even slightly out of the gutter. – Yours, etc,
GARY DOYLE,
Castledillon Road,
Straffan, Co Kildare.
A chara, – Fianna Fáil candidate Pat Carey says he argued for an April election so as to reduce the impact of the Universal Social Charge on the Fianna Fáil vote (“On the doorstep”, Home News, February 10th).
In one line, Mr Carey demonstrates a complete lack of appreciation that making decisions in the interests of the party rather than the country has been one of the contributing factors to the crisis we are now in. Sometimes what is said behind the scenes is more revealing than what is said on the doorstep. – Is mise,
DAVID McCARTHY,
Pine Valley Avenue, Dublin 16.
Madam, – I have noticed quite a few election posters proclaiming “Gilmore for taoiseach”. As the Labour Party is not fielding sufficient candidates to have any hope of forming a single-party government, the only possibility of Mr Gilmore becoming taoiseach is for the Labour Party to become the major party in a coalition government. I would like to challenge the Labour Party to state clearly just who it is prepared to enter into coalition arrangements with to achieve its objective of Mr Gilmore becoming taoiseach. Could they, for example be thinking of Fianna Fáil as a possible junior partner? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Timmy Dooley TD canvassed me on the evening of February 9th. When I raised the issue of the incomplete state of our housing estate and our attempts to get it completed, he dismissively replied that this was a local authority issue to be dealt with by it – ie, Clare County Council.
But it’s not a local issue. The problem of incomplete estates is a nationwide issue that needs to be addressed by central and local government. Over the lifetime of the Celtic tiger and under the remit of Fianna Fáil governments, the resources of the local planning authorities were focused on serving the needs of the construction industry. As a result there are completed estates throughout the country that have never been taken in charge.
There are also estates, like ours, where the council is holding a bond in respect of the completion of the estate, but appears either unwilling or unable to finalise the enforcement process.
Along with negative equity and the thousands of people who are struggling to meet mortgage payments, the stark reality for a lot of people who bought houses within the last decade is that their house will never recover the value of the house at the point they purchased it. The fact that they may be living in an incomplete estate only compounds the issue.
Given that the man and woman in the street have been the fall guys for the implosion of Ireland Inc, it is incumbent on whatever government that takes office after the general election to tackle the issue of incomplete, partially occupied estates, by initially focusing all the resources of the local authority planning department on enforcement.
This will allow analysis of what action is required; what funds can be sourced through legal enforcements and bonds held; and how any balance needed can be resourced. Central Government has to find a way to fund the shortfall.
Unless and until a government is elected that feels a responsibility towards the ordinary Joes and Josephines (who will be funding the crisis inflicted by the departing government for at least a generation), we will continue to get dismissive responses from the likes of Mr Dooley. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I was looking forward to watching the debate between Eamon Gilmore and Micheál Martin with Vincent Browne only to find the TV3 programme failed to have subtitles. This is appalling. People like myself who are profoundly deaf depend on subtitles to access political information. Interestingly, the next day Vincent Browne wrote an article about the importance of equality (Opinion, February 9th). Needless to say this infuriated me even more. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Eric Luke’s picture (Election 2011, February 7th) of the Green Party truly shows the abandoning of the party’s base, using piles of paper in order to display the size of party war-chests.
Surely it could find another way to emphasise its own financial misfortunes and fortunes of others, without forgetting where the party came from. – Yours, etc,