Revelations at the RHI Inquiry show that our political masters are utterly unfit to govern

THE latest revelations emanating from the costly Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) Inquiry resemble a pantomime farce and only reinforce the view that Northern Ireland politicians, especially in the DUP, are totally unfit to govern.

Roger Corder (Write Back, September 5) makes a lot of sense when he says that only by renouncing the orange and green politics of the past and establishing a new political order can we make progress in Northern Ireland.

This will take several generations to achieve, and is certainly out of the ability of the current lot, who show no accountability.

I have been reading the correspondence between Frederick II and Voltaire. They discuss various topics, such as religious freedom, freedom of expression in France, the Catholic Church, the Seven Years’ War, the War of Austrian Succession, and the skill of writing poetry.

These letters contain some real gems. One in particular stands out, and could apply to our own political crisis.

In this letter, written a few months after the Battle of Hohenfriedberg, Frederick II states: “The greatest and noblest pleasure which we have in this world is to discover new truths and the next is to shake off old prejudices. An educated people can be easily governed. It seems to me that man is made to act rather than to know: the principles of things escape our most persevering researches. Religion is the idol of the mob; it adores everything it does not understand.”

Perhaps what Northern Ireland needs in these times of crisis is a perceptive leader of the calibre of Frederick, one who will take responsibility when things go awry — something we have not encountered in a very long while.

ROBERT J ANDREWS By email