Sir, - To suggest that few people voted in recent elections because of disillusionment with politicians is perhaps too simple. A 32 per cent turn out in a highly populated area such as where we live is appalling.
Politicians are clearly too often seen as those you go to get what you are entitled to anyway e.g. adequate health care, a medical card, adequate efficient local services. And when that is attained, that's the end of the dialogue until there is another problem.
Surely it is time for change at all levels, with emphasis on the fact that we get the politicians we deserve. We are all too happy to put politicians on pedestals to be used only when we need something, rather than supporting, encouraging, challenging and allowing them to get on with the job of creating, with the electorate, a place to be proud of in our world.
Likewise, politicians need to look beyond just the knock on the door at election time or the preprinted card regretting having missed you. We all are citizens, we all need each other. Without this understanding we are in great danger of weakening our democracy, which many great people struggled to achieve and which other countries envy. - Yours, etc., Alice Leahy and Charles Best,
Upper Rathmines Road, Dublin 6.