6 May 2010 Edition

Resize: A A A Print

Mála Poist

Cuireann An Phoblacht fáilte roimh litreacha ónár léitheoirí. Scríobh i nGaeilge nó i mBéarla, 200 focal ar a méid. Déantar giorrú ar litreachta más gá. Cuir do litir chuig [email protected]
An Phoblacht welcomes readers’ letters. Write in Irish or English, 200 words maximum. Letters may be edited for brevity. Send your letters to [email protected]. No attachments please

The RedC poll

SINN FÉIN is slipping in the South. The latest RedC poll (showing Sinn Féin down four points to 6%) augurs badly for Sinn Féin at the next general election.
If we keep on with the same hallowed but failed strategy, Sinn Féin will be eclipsed by the Labour Party and no amount of canvassing or leafleting will halt this trend.
We need to come up with a new strategy to appeal to the 26-County electorate. Wishing that Sinn Féin will have seven or more elected TDs is not going to do it – it requires radical action. There is no way that we can expect to increase our Dáil representation through on-the-ground campaigning alone. We must compete at a national level.
There is a widespread view that we are a Northern party   –  not an all-Ireland party. What we must do is to show the electorate that our public representatives in the South are at the heart of Sinn Féin.
Sinn Féin needs to be seen to have a strong Southern leadership. Power can no longer be seen to devolve from the North to the South. We need a new vision of power sharing – within our own party.
I look forward to the publication of this letter and I hope it kick-starts an overdue debate.
In solidarity,
RUADHÁN
Mac AODHÁIN,
Dublin.

 

Pensions and power

I HAVE heard quite a few politically elite ministers, TDs and councillors expressing their views on how difficult things were going to be in relation to the effect of the downturn in the economy, and advising on what measures we, as “patriotic citizens”, should take in order do our bit for our country.
Make an effort to carry out more voluntary work, accept cuts in welfare payments, cuts in wages for those who are lucky enough to be in work, and even the elderly they had to do their bit by having their carers’ time cut or home-help slashed, not to mention their pensions. But then it transpires that a lot of those same politicians were found to be availing of lucrative pensions on top of their wages while still working as TDs and ministers: Bertie Ahern TD, Pat The Cope Gallagher MEP, Dr James McDaid TD.
Where was the concept of leading by example being shown by these elected reps?
J WOODS,
Dun nGall.

 

Bungee jump bad taste?

PLEASE allow me to voice my opposition to plans for a fund-raising bungee jump at this year’s Wolfe Tone commemorative event at Bodenstown.
While I would not consider myself a traditionalist in the strictest sense of the word, I would find this venture to be in bad taste.
For generations, republicans have gathered at Bodenstown each year to pay tribute to a man who sacrificed his all for the cause of Ireland’s freedom; we pay tribute to a man who gave his life, in the most harrowing fashion, for the cause of our nation. I feel that to organise a bungee jump, of all things, in the vicinity of his final resting place, and to place a fund-raising event at the centre of his commemoration, is nothing short of a desecration of his name and memory.
I do feel that a bungee jump fund-raising event has the potential to be a very worthwhile exercise, however with regards to June 20th at Bodenstown, I hope good sense will prevail.
SHANE CAHILL,
Clare

EDITOR’S NOTE: The organisers appreciate these concerns but they are keen to point out that this event takes place at the assembly point some miles away from Bodenstown, in Sallins Village.


An Phoblacht
44 Parnell Sq.
Dublin 1
Ireland