Sir, – I suggested that Marine Le Pen, following the statistical trajectory of the last two French presidential elections, should be expected to win it next time round (Letters, April 26th). Tadhg McCarthy doubts that she will try again having had "two bites of the cherry" (Letters, April 27th). Actually she contested the presidential election in 2012 too, so in fact this was her third bite of the cherry.
I’d be slow to assume someone involved in electoral politics since the age of 20 will change careers in their mid-50s, especially having lead a party from the periphery to being the main one of opposition. But the more important point is the support for her party, which, by extrapolating long-term trends, is likely to be around 50 per cent in four years. The significance of this for the EU might make Brexit look trivial. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN O’BRIEN,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.