Committed to self-reliance

Sir — A senior source within Renua was quoted (Sunday Independent, May 29) as stating that the party was seen as a “prickly, snarky Catholic” party who “are hectoring and lecturing people”.

The answer, seemingly, is to change name and rebrand with the advice that “orthodox Catholics had to get with the programme or jump ship”.

This is a first — an unnamed spokesperson for a political party using the term Catholic as a term of abuse.

So much for the pluralist, freedom-of-conscience ethos that its founders based the movement on, which encouraged the coexistence of different interests, convictions and religious beliefs. Where now is the promise of open and engaged discussions while respecting other points of view?

The reality is that it is the senior source that is out of step.

Renua will continue and will grow, and not because of a rebranding or a name change.

It will happen because the party is committed to a tolerant acceptance of differences both internally and externally.

It will happen because it is a party committed to selfreliance of individuals and of communities and will work for the economic mobility of all our population. It will happen because the party members have a vision for our country that transcends the conventional oppositional left-wing, rightwing spectrum of politics.

It will happen if senior sources resist following their own agenda and actually work with party members instead of lecturing and threatening them.

Michael O’Dowd, Renua candidate Louth/ East Meath, Drogheda,

Co Louth