The government's popularity

Sir, - The cartoon by Martin Turner in your issue of January 26th is nothing less than exceptional

Sir, - The cartoon by Martin Turner in your issue of January 26th is nothing less than exceptional. Congratulations to him for his particularly apt and fitting summary of Irish political philosophy as perceived by a majority of the nation's electorate.

Whereas most electorates tend to align good standards of government and political leadership with the presence of ethical behaviour and the absence of political intrigue and scandal, we in this country seem to have it the other way round. A thriving economy underlines our indifference. Since a great many of us have become more wealthy we don't need to care about anything except our wealth. More worrying, perhaps, is what will happen if this view of politics persists. While individual politicians may cause difficulty for the administration of justice, the possibility of not having a concept of justice itself will clearly emerge if we continue to endorse the activities of those who make the greatest efforts to hinder its administration most.

One commentator recently spoke of any society as having a stage of beginning and a stage of barbarism with an intervening period of civilisation. While Irish society has clearly moved beyond the beginning point it is hoped that an intervening era of mature civilisation can emerge before anything else. - Yours, etc.,

Bill Seery, Woodbrook Glen, Bray, Co Wicklow.