Madam, - Whether one not one agrees with John Waters's conclusion about the "implosion of socialism" and the lack of a future for the Labour party because it "has become lazy", his column of September 3rd is cogently argued.
The problem is that his well-argued case that "the prevailing narrative of Irish politics" is one in which "high-profile commentators insist on interpreting reality in accordance with their own desires" applies to the whole of Irish journalism, John Waters included, and not just to "a scattering of implacably reactionary left-wingers" in the Labour party. In addition, the left-wingers have failed since, as Mr Waters states, "there is no possibility of any kind of left-wing analysis taking hold in the forseeable future".
Contrary to the case Mr Waters is making about the left-wing agenda, "the prevailing narrative of Irish politics" over a period of at least 30 years could be argued to have been the imposition of a one-party state. In contrast to the left-wing agenda, the one-party-state agenda, in which the serried ranks of most of the journalistic profession, including John Waters, have participated, has been eminently successful. As a result you cannot take up a newspaper or listen to radio or TV discussions without hearing a self-congratulatory gloat on a job well done.
Deriding smaller parties, especially those in opposition, has become a national pastime for the journalistic profession. It is easier and safer than holding those in power to account. John Waters's article of September 3 is a case in point. "Lazy" is an inadequate word for this. Complicit is nearer the mark. - Yours, etc,
A. LEAVY,
Shielmartin Drive,
Sutton,
Dublin 13.