A chara, - I am quite sure that the recent suggestions of a voting pact between Mary Banotti and Adi Roche must be completely unfounded.
In my many discussions of the election with colleagues, I have found, without exception, that voters are in one of two categories: namely, those voting for the two candidates actually qualified for the job (McAleese and Banotti); and those voting for the nice candidates (Roche and Dana). These seem to me to be far more logical voting pacts than the suggested pairing of Banotti and Roche, who have nothing in common apart from the tired, old "liberal" label which has little relevance in 1997 Ireland, and the even more tired "non-Fianna Fail" label - a Civil War remnant of even less relevance today. While one must have suspicions after the "musical wonderland" fiasco about the quality of advice Ms Roche is getting, I would at the very least expect an intelligent woman such as Mary Banotti to resist such a jaded approach.
Recent opinion polls have had two clear findings: that the electorate believes the person most qualified to be President is Mary McAleese (though they are not necessarily voting for her); and that more voters intend transferring to Ms McAleese than to any other candidate. It is clear to me, at least, that Ms Banotti would do well to put the good of the country before party political point-scoring, and either urge her supporters to transfer to Ms McAleese, or say nothing at all. I for one, as a McAleese supporter, intend reciprocating the anticipated gesture and my ballot paper will be marked McAleese 1, Banotti 2, full stop. - Is mise,
From David Carroll
Boyle, Co Roscommon.