Michael D might not be a shoo-in for the Áras
IN yesterday’s Irish Daily Mail, Kevin Cunningham of Ireland Thinks, the polling company which carried out the poll assessing support for the various Presidential hopefuls, states: ‘Perhaps there is something in the Irish psyche that doesn’t like what might be perceived to be the “obvious choice”.’
I believe this to be true and is actually good news for the candidates other than President Michael D Higgins.
Irish people don’t like being told what to do. This is especially true in relation to politicians. This is possibly a carry-over from our colonial past where the ruler was despised.
While slightly different, Enda Kenny’s solo run to abolish the Seanad spectacularly backfired.
The same-sex marriage and abortion referendums were overwhelmingly carried with broad political support; these were grassroots campaigns with many politicians reluctantly supporting them late in the day. It was more a case of the electorate telling the politicians what to do rather than the other way round.
With the majority of politicians supporting Michael D Higgins, in fact Fine Gael councillors being told to toe the party line and not nominate/support independent candidates, we could be in for a surprise in this election.
Nobody predicted Donald Trump. Nobody predicted the Brexit vote. A win for A.N. Other may not be as way out as you might initially think.
TOMMY RODDY, Galway.
...SO the Fine Gael party doesn’t want its councillors to back any of people looking for their support for Presidential candidacy, and is using the party whip.
Fine Gael is dictating to us who to vote for and denying us the opportunity to vote for who we want to. Is this not dictatorship? At least Fianna Fáil are not using the party whip. Shame on Fine Gael.
EDWARD CRONIN, by email.
We need a miracle
POPE Francis arrived and departed without any serious hiccups but what his visit did do was to take the focus off the harshness of Government decisions that are hastening the depopulation of rural Ireland.
For those people who braved the crowds, wind, rain and traffic to see Pope Francis, it was indeed a humbling experience.
Having spoken to some of those young and old who attended the historic World Meeting of Families event in Dublin, it was a truly joyous occasion, and many are planning for the next one to held in Italy in three years’ time.
Hopefully the Pope’s visit to Ireland will heal some of the many festering wounds that have been ignored or brushed aside for years, but we will have to wait and see how this comes about.
The sins of the Church are a handy substitution to keep the sins of the Government off the airwaves, the ongoing agenda of clearing rural Ireland of its services is gathering pace ever since 161 postmasters have been forced into a corner, with no option but to apply for the redundancy package.
The Pope visited the homeless and commiserated with them on their unfortunate plight of having to sleep in hostels, hotels and doorways in a country of two halves, the haves and the have-nots, where the wealth is hoarded among the rich and powerful as envious queues form outside a letting agency in preparation for the paying astronomical sums for tea chest-sized rooms.
Has the visit to this country by the Pope changed anything? I hate to say it but nothing less than a miracle will change a thing, unfortunately. JAMES WOODS, by email.
Yikes! I googled myself
US president Donald Trump tweeted that ‘Google search results for Trump News shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media’.
This implies they are not publishing all results for people’s searches. This prompted me to do a similar search and see what my name produced.
I found that most references in the first 100 results were to champion football players – definitely not me. Or obituaries – hopefully not me. There were a number of criminals, a lawyer, a police officer and even a teacher, but not me.
Perhaps I should actually value my ordinary, semi-anonymous life for what it is rather than seek the fleeting fame of internet celebrity. DENNIS FITZGERALD,
Melbourne, Australia.
My Bubbly memories
THE relaunch of the bubble car (Mail) brings back so many happy memories.
In the Sixties, my late husband and I bought a brand new, bright red Heinkel. We toured Italy in it, on occasions sleeping in it, even though my husband was 6ft 2in.
Back home, we were pulled over for exceeding the speed limit.
The officer’s comment was: ‘This can shift!’ And it did 90 miles to the gallon. EDNA MERRETT, Caerphilly, Wales. ...I DIDN’T buy a bubble car in the Sixties because they had leaky roofs, poor brakes and you couldn’t tackle a steep hill in one.
So why 50 years later did I buy a wreck of a bubble car? Well, they are great fun to drive. Keep on Bubbling!
CHRIS BARBER, Hertfordshire, England