Madam, - Can publicans offer the defence of "honest mistake" if caught serving drink to under-18s, or shopkeepers for selling cigarettes to under-16s? - Yours, etc,
SARAH BOURKE, Kilmainham, Dublin 8.
Madam, - Let us hope that, when the electorate next votes, it will recall that the only way in which government accountability can be judged is by its stewardship of that which is entrusted.
By stewardship, I mean accepting responsibility for something, and taking care of it - for example, environment, health, education, age care and so on. Stewardship is a central burden of government.
It can be argued, from the recent example of statutory rape law, that the Government has failed to steward the safety and innocence of our young people. In that case, the Government's burden of stewardship has not been discharged. Those who accepted responsibility for our young people failed us.
Giving this Government a vote for power again requires us all to discard our habitual preferences and think carefully about the FF/PD track record of stewardship. - Yours, etc,
MARTIN KAY, Lough Gur, Co Limerick.