Sir, - Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein are appealing for votes in the forthcoming election. The pundits are predicting that, bar minor shifts, they will get them.
Is this not an alarming prospect? Surely no one now can be under any illusion about the true nature of either of these parties. The former is synonymous with sleaze and corruption: the latter - through its IRA associations - with violence and a hideous legacy, some of which is currently being disinterred around the country.
What will it say about the Irish people if there is not a dramatic collapse in support for these parties? Who will ever again take us seriously - and will we deserve to be taken seriously? - Yours, etc.,
John Rooney, Belfast 15.