Sir, – Michael O'Loughlin mentions an English acquaintance who told him of his surprise at how right wing Ireland is ("Why has leftist discourse been marginalised in Ireland", Opinion & Analysis, April 26th).
After moving to Dublin from London in the mid-1990s, I felt very much the same.
The Irish reactionary hegemony was summed up for me by the convenient notion put about by some politicians, especially the now defunct Progressive Democrats, that it was possible to be “socially liberal and fiscally conservative”.
As a Marxist and materialist that unrealistic formulation made no sense.
:fill(white):background_color(white)/static.themebuilder.aws.arc.pub/irishtimes/1647534191476.png)
Surely they realise, I used to wonder in frustration, that a liberal society can only truly exist when underpinned by enlightened left-wing economic policies?
Sadly, having lived here for more than 20 years, I hardly any longer notice the absence of a strong left in Ireland. – Yours, etc,
JOE McCARTHY,
Arbour Hill,
Dublin 7.