Sir, – Will those remaining three TDs take Molly Bloom’s soliloquy to heart and say to David Norris, “And yes I said yes I will yes”? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – John Waters (Opinion, September 23rd) states that electing a gay candidate for President would somehow achieve the objective of “expressing contempt for the political process and the higher offices of State”.
Would he care to elaborate on this? Can we only express approval for our politics and offices of State by discriminating against gays? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Those cynics who doubt Martin McGuinness’s claim that he never managed to shoot anybody while he was in the IRA clearly fail to appreciate how difficult it is accurately to fire an Armalite with one hand while holding a ballot box in the other. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – The fact that a presidential candidate feels the need to issue statements to the effect that he, personally, never murdered anyone, or instructed anyone to murder anyone, or was indirectly involved with the murder of anyone, is surely enough to cast a pall of uncertainty over his campaign such as to make him unelectable? – Is mise,
A chara, – When the much lauded Queen of England’s visit took place recently our politicians, “establishment” figures and media led the self-adulation pronouncing that we, as a nation, had matured and moved on.
When Martin McGuinness was recently announced as a candidate for the presidential election, the reaction from our politicians, “establishment” figures and media showed that we, as a nation, are a bunch of hypocrites. – Is mise,
A chara, – Who is the real Martin McGuinness? Is it the one who refuses to condemn the killing of Det Garda Jerry McCabe, who protests at the visit of Queen Elizabeth to Ireland and who believes that Dublin is full of West Brits? Or is it the one who “on mature reflection” does condemn the killing of Det Garda McCabe, who would welcome Queen Elizabeth to Ireland with open arms and who doesn’t believe that Dublin is full of West Brits? “Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?” – Is mise,
Sir, – A lot of commentary has focused upon the apparent difficulty of the presidential nominations process. It should be noted that if David Norris and Dana both succeed in obtaining last-minute support, then the field of seven candidates will be a record number for an Irish presidential race. Some may hold the view that this is an adequate number for such a prestigious contest and that the nominations process is a sufficiently rigorous hurdle that candidates must overcome.
Dana has only begun to seek a nomination in the past number of days while it must be remembered that David Norris was previously on course to obtain a nomination before major controversy struck. Seán Gallagher and Mary Davis were nominated in a reasonably straightforward manner, despite being Independent candidates.
However, it remains a widely held view that the process should be reformed. I would suggest that petitions of signatures could be permitted for future contests, yet the required number for these should still be substantial – possibly 50,000 registered electors. A special, secure website could be set up whereby electors could enter in a signature using their PPS number. Obtaining such an amount of signatures would still pose some degree of challenge, but realistically, obtaining a presidential nomination should never be something achieved with trivial ease. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – During Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Ireland, the Irish people were routinely lectured by broadcasters, columnists and leading politicians about need to move on from the past, look to the future and abandon the “whataboutery” politics of historical atrocities. Martin McGuinness puts his name forward for the presidency and we are urged by the same influential people to do the complete opposite.
Perhaps our esteemed commentariat are more “nit-wit” than “West-Brit”? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The nomination system for the presidency of this country is an outrage when one sees a candidate who is obviously the people’s favourite being “excluded” by the politicos. Do they want to hear the people speak or are we an irrelevance? This in particular applies to Fianna Fáil, which has, in my view, one final chance this week to stand up and show it is willing to assist the voters of Ireland to allow them to have their say at the ballot box. Are Fianna Fáil listening to the people? It is that or political extinction. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Martin McGuinness’s decision to run for the office of president presents a dilemma to the electorate. Do we ignore the past and embrace the modern-day peacemaker? Or do we recall that his role as peacemaker is borne out of his bloody history? The electorate will decide, but surely it would be somewhat easier if Mr McGuinness himself were to repudiate the weasel words that so egregiously dishonour his many victims, and, most importantly, to sincerely acknowledge the illegitimacy of those heinous acts. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I had thought that Hell might freeze over before I would ever give a first preference vote to Michael D Higgins. But then Martin McGuinness entered the race and now I’m praying with increased fervour that David Norris will obtain the backing he needs, otherwise Michael Twee will have won me over without even having opened his mouth! – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Now that Michael Healy- Rea has nominated Martin McGuinness for president, maybe we should consider election of same by a phone-in competition. – Yours, etc,