Sir, - I feel that the by-election result from South Tipperary underlines the truth about our politicians, namely that we are governed by a party inured to sleaze, which blandly expects its electorate to laud this as a virtue. Its marriage with the PDs has degenerated into a convenient business arrangement with the public cast as the nuisance children. In the midst of all this the criticism is led not by any of the other major parties but by Eamon Dunphy on The Last Word. Twice in the past week he has been the focal point for the questions that needed to be asked on the O'Flaherty affair, while the Opposition have yet to land a punch.
Where are they?
I believe that both Mr Bruton and Mr Quinn are men of undoubted integrity, but they must become more vocal on our behalf. Tony Blair won a landslide election victory in similar circumstances, but we have no prospect of any respite. If the Tipp South result was replayed countrywide we'd have a fractured parliament with a weak coalition government and the chief whip acting as nanny to a widened creche of independents, all with their own local agendas.
As the Government slithers out of Dail Eireann this week all we can do is hope that someone, somewhere, will take up the cudgels on our behalf and offer us a decent alternative. - Yours, etc.,
Ray Tomany, Crodaun Forest Park, Celbridge, Co Kildare.