Madam, – Given that the nation is broke, why don’t we – the Government – declare that the office of President shall be an honorary one, with no salary and no pension. In addition to saving some money it could make our choice less difficult. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Assuming your report is correct, there is something very curious indeed about your Front-page headline (June 6th), “Cox seeks to join FG and run as party presidential candidate”. In the same week that we saw the apparent sabotage of David Norris’s candidature, we now have an ardent Europhile (indeed a former president of the European Parliament and member of the Progressive Democrats) appearing out of the woodwork, seemingly to fill the vacuum in the public consciousness created by this apparent sabotage, by seeking the Fine Gael nomination and, presumably, the goodwill of Fine Gael voters.
By a strange contemporaneous coincidence, Paddy Power’s bookmaker’s website has listed Mr Cox at odds of 1/7 to secure the Fine Gael nomination (with Mairead McGuinness at 4/1) since earlier this weekend, well prior to the appearance of your headline. It was also offering Mr Cox at 5/4 and Mr Norris at 2/1 to win the presidential election outright.
Given the recent unprecedented interference in our economy by the European Central Bank and its cronies, it is my considered opinion that at this difficult time we need a President other than Mr Cox with his European baggage, a President who may have to inspire us out of the control of “the European state”, not further into its beguiling grasp.
Come to think of it, wouldn’t Declan Ganley be great? Any chance? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I see Niall O’Dowd (a naturalised American) has declared an interest in running for the Park (Front page, June 6th). If he were to formally enter the race for the Áras, would he have to relinquish his US citizenship, or would his present status – that of a US citizen – present no impediment to him standing for the office of President of Ireland? – Yours,etc,
Madam, – It is to be hoped that those who are seeking, by calumny, to derail Senator David Norris’s campaign for the presidency will merely achieve an increase in support for his worthy candidacy. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Seanadóir Norris’s dismissal of Helen Lucy Burke’s article as an “academic interview” is a distraction, and demeans academic life and debate. Academic freedom is real, is about truth – especially for the academic – and is a valued service to society and culture. Treating it as something to hide behind is an evasion of responsibility, and inverts its goal, to the disservice of us all. – Yours, etc,