Sir, – The objective of a merger is that both parties to the union can ensure that the sum of the parts will be greater than the whole. The traditional business school maxim was generally expressed as “two plus two equals five”.
Unfortunately, there are certain situations where the aspiration for a symbiotic relationship can be reduced to the mathematical expression that “two plus two equals three”.
The motivation of each party should be examined to the point that each party can deliver a win/win result. History has not been kind to political mergers. – Yours, etc,
CORMAC MEEHAN,
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Bundoran,
Co Donegal.
Sir, – The current Fianna Fáil leadership would have to move a very long way to convince nationalists in the North to vote for them, with or without the SDLP. A number of reasons for this include the Fianna Fáil refusal to share government in the Republic with Sinn Féin, and the way in which many FF TDs are stuck in a time warp on social issues. In addition, there is the FF’s leadership’s consistent anti-Republican rhetoric, including the abject refusal to support a border poll. – Yours, etc,
MARTIN KEENAN,
Belfast.