Sir, – While the presidential election campaign is intended to choose one person to occupy this pivotal constitutional office, this is a demanding role that has been shown to be enormously enhanced by the support and dedication of someone close to the president. That individual can have a profound impact on the attitude of the public and their relationship to the president of any nation.
The magnificent support consistently provided by Senator Martin McAleese and Nicholas Robinson was indispensible to the success of our two most recent presidents and proves the point.
The widow of the former President of Argentina and former First Lady from 2003, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, succeeded her husband in 2007 as president and is facing into the second stage of a presidential election on October 23rd with almost a 60 per cent rating in opinion polls.
Our own presidential election campaign might begin to show more vitality and piquancy if the public could glean some insight into who could play the role of presidential consort from November onwards, giving the electorate a more holistic and compelling perception of how the nation might fair under the next president, whether that person is a spouse, or not. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I have to confess to a degree of naivety. Having heard of the tireless campaigning of Mary Davis for the Special Olympics I had assumed it was done on a more or less voluntary basis.
I was quite taken aback by her €156,000-a-year salary plus €50,000 a year for sitting on various quangos.
Nice work if you can get it, plus a reputation for being a tireless campaigner when in reality she’s just another well-paid, well-connected CEO. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – As the race draws to a close I am now decided – my No 1 goes to Mary Davis’s poster – because she’s worth it. – Is mise,
Sir, – Watching the TV3 debate and before I fall asleep, may I make a suggestion? It’s a seven- year office and there are seven candidates – a coincidence? I think not! Give them all a year each and cancel the election. It would save the country money and the electorate its sanity. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Vincent Browne’s assertion in the TV3 presidential debate that because the authors of five books about the IRA claim Martin McGuinness was in the IRA after 1974 therefore it must be true may be a case of the fallacy of “everybody says so”.
I don’t know if Mr McGuinness was in the IRA after 1974. He says he was not. The fact (as far as I know) that he was neither convicted or even charged with this criminal offence since 1974 gives him the benefit of the doubt. Real evidence is required in our courts.
Most people that I know are fed up with the election coverage, particularly that on television and radio. I want to know what the candidates plan to do if elected, not what they maybe did or didn’t do a decade or more ago.
I would like to hear their speeches around the country and the people’s reaction to them so I can judge for myself. After all, this is a large part of what they will be doing as president. The internet is presently the only source for this. I do not wish to know more about the prejudices of the journalists and presenters as they try to make themselves look important by scoring points off the candidates. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The real race that is under way is not the one for the Áras but rather the one for control of our State assets. I refer to Martin Wall’s report on Jack O’Connor’s speech in Ennis (Home News, October 4th). At the most critical time of this country’s history, our eye has been taken off the real issue, that will affect the future of everyone in this State by the campaign for who will occupy the Áras for the next seven years.
Yes, we need a head of State, but the real issue for the people is the handing over of control of crucially important ports and airports or the capacity to generate and distribute energy or utilities that are needed to support a civilised existence for all our citizens, as reported in the article. The real race is to strip as many State assets as possible.
At the end of October we will have a head of State in the Áras but what kind of State will they preside over? For the rest of the campaign let us hear some new thinking about what kind of State we really want and what kind of new leadership we need. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – What is all the hullabaloo about presidential candidates showing their P60s? There is now an ever-growing number of our citizens without such a document! – Yours, etc,
A chara, – It is sickening that our presidential elections bestir people like Frank E Bannister (October 4th) to emerge with little – “my Daddy told me that de Valera was a bad man!” – stories. These fairytales are endemic in certain sectors of the population; they probably started as propaganda. Then as the accused aged and finally died, the tales became folklore.
When Mr Bannister sufficiently matures he will find that all of us, including our heroes and villains, are neither black nor white, but finish our lives with endless shades of grey. Especially those who point fingers, please note. – Is mise,
Sir, – For someone who claims to live on the average industrial wage, how can Martin McGuinness afford to pay his aggressive minders who fend off any hecklers? – Is mise,
Sir, – In relation to the presidential aspirations of a certain candidate from the North, many, it would seem, are quick to compare that candidate with Michael Collins, and then include the word terrorist as their description of both.
Perhaps such a claim might bear some comparison, but would the same people be good enough to compare how many innocent civilians were killed by the use of indiscriminate bombing, both on this and the adjacent island? Maybe a different pattern might emerge to that which the candidate and his supporters would prefer. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The president’s salary is €325,000 per annum. Martin McGuinness says that if elected he will take only the average industrial wage. Does this mean that if he is elected, almost €300,000 each year of taxpayers hard-earned money will go to Sinn Féin? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Breda O’Brien is correct (Opinion, October 1st) it will be the least unwanted of the Seven who will be elected.
This is a popularity poll in reverse which could have been topped by Bertie Ahern, had he proceeded. Michael Fingleton, Sean Fitzpatrick, David Drumm and others also could have figured highly. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Might I suggest that the Áras be converted to a block of apartments? Seven two-bedroom apartments might save us the cost of a Presidential election and free the public of the responsibility of having to select the least unsuitable candidate.
Lots could be drawn by the seven hopefuls as to who might assume the duties of president on each of the seven years of the overall term. If light studded partitioning were used the costs could be minimised and the process could be easily reversed. It is unlikely that there would be a repeat of such a stampede for the office the next time around. Lessons are bound to be learned. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Several of them could be considered Grumpy, but are any of our presidential hopefuls Happy? – Yours, etc,