Madam, - Fianna Fáil's Seanad reform package includes a proposal for five additional seats for Northern Ireland representatives (The Irish Times, August 9th). Can this be part of the silly season or another effect of global warming?
This proposal should be rejected outright. While the vast majority of the population wish to maintain good relations with the people of the North there is a nauseating element of condescension in this proposal.
Aside from the feelgood factor the proposal induces there is the important question of representation without accountability. I feel quite sure the Protestant majority will not be impressed with this type of "generosity". This attempt to woo the North should be seen for what it is: another example of the siren-call from the South.
Fianna Fáil - the Republican Party, as it likes to be known at election time - has never realised its traditional twin policies: the restoration of the language and the removal of the border. The party will hardly be any more successful in this latest piece of fantasy. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN F. FALLON,
Boyle,
Co Roscommon.