He’s the best bad alternative

ONE of your correspondents last week attacked Michael D Higgins for seeking a second term as President when he had explicitly promised before he was elected that he would only serve one term.

It’s a fair point, but I still hope he seeks a second term and is returned unopposed.

That’s not because I’m a fan of President Higgins. On the contrary, I find his pseudointellectual speechifying and left-wing views deeply tiresome. But I’d put up with all of that to avoid the farce of another presidential election.

It’s a farce because candidates are forced to debate each other and discuss all sorts of issues that have nothing to do with the job. The President is a figurehead, nothing more. Anyone really concerned about specific social and political issues should be running for a seat in the Dáil, not the Áras. Let’s avoid this waste of time. Maeve Quinn, Drogheda.