Sir, – Fintan O'Toole's observations regarding "old politics" should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with politics in Ireland, as it has always been thus (Opinion, September 6th). Yet, we seem to be constantly surprised by our politicians' failings. Why should we? As long ago as 1776, Thomas Paine wrote in his republican pamphlet Common Sense: "Men who look upon themselves born to reign, and others to obey, soon grow insolent; selected from the rest of mankind their minds are early poisoned by importance; and the world they act in differs so materially from the world at large,that they have but little opportunity of knowing its true interests, and when they succeed to government are frequently the most ignorant and unfit of any throughout the dominions".
I always vote, I am a cynic, and I am never surprised by Ireland’s “old politics”. – Yours, etc,