Madam, - Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue (September 12th) says it "is perfectly legitimate for Fianna Fáil to ask Fine Gael and Labour to produce their alternative joint programme for Government before the election".
If that is the case it is surely legitimate to ask Mr O'Donoghue why Fianna Fáil and the PDs did not produce a single joint policy document before the 2002 general election and why the two parties only negotiated joint programmes for Government after both the 1997 and 2002 elections.
While he is at it, he might also explain why their then coalition partners found it necessary to spend most of the 2002 election campaign warning the electorate that Fianna Fáil was such a dodgy outfit that it could not possibly be trusted in government on its own.
The Minister is preoccupied with his distorted version of the past, but the Irish people are really more concerned with the future. - Yours, etc,
RUAIRI QUINN TD, Labour Party, Leinster House, Dublin 2.
Madam, - You regularly implore letter writers to be brief, yet Mr John O'Donoghue's letter (September 12th) nearly put me to sleep because it was so long - and steeped in blame culture.
I know little about the accuracy of his assertions in relation to previous Fine Gael-led administrations. He may well be correct. I was living abroad at the time - but anyway, does it really matter? Mr O'Donoghue and Opposition spokespersons should realise that Ireland has changed and continues to change rapidly as does the age-distribution and behaviour of the Irish electorate.
In his last paragraph Mr O'Donoghue complains abut the Opposition seeking photo-opportunities. At the victory ceremony after the Champion Stakes at Leopardstown last Saturday, which was orchestrated by Horse Racing Ireland, Mr O'Donoghue was perched on the victory platform. He saw fit to address thousands of racegoers from home and abroad, carefully explaining the equine achievements of the present Government.
I am not sure what the aptly named winner, Oratorio, being a highly bred champion, made of it all.
This is an irksome practice. When we attend major sporting occasions such as this, we should be able to enjoy the social element free of tiresome political broadcasts which have no place at such an event. - Yours, etc,
DECLAN MEAGHER, Mount Merrion Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Pat Rabbitte's recent attempts to present the Rainbow coalition as an economically credible administration raise one very important question.
If Labour and Fine Gael in government created such wealth and prosperity, why were they unable to afford more than a meagre £1.80 rise in the old-age pension? - Yours, etc,
NOEL McPARTLAND, Drumshanbo, Co Leitrim.