Wakeup call for the PC crowd as Casey raises a voice for those who can’t be heard

SIR,AFTER nearly five decades to the fore in Irish politics it is not surprising that Michael D. Higgins again won the presidential election. But what runner-up Peter Casey, a relative unknown, has done in the space of four weeks is astounding.

While his co-contestants in the election campaign incessantly spouted soundbites about dubious ideals and their ‘vision’ for the presidency, Mr Casey took a different tack – a tack which struck a chord with a section of society whose concerns lay elsewhere.

While Casey, following his remarks about the traveling community, was trying to explain to deafened ears that he was not a racist, he was shouted down by media commentators, elected members of the Dáil and several of the politically correct brigade. All these detractors will now have to listen to him and accept there is a counter view by nearly a quarter of the electorate who are not happy with the way things are.

Racism (which comes from the word race) is the belief in the superiority of one race over another, and, as Peter Casey tried to articulate above the noise of the PC