A Chara, - The relentless onslaught by the Opposition parties since Christmas has yielded them a net drop of 3 per cent in the latest Irish Times/ TNS mrbi opinion poll, while the three Government parties' combined support has gone up by 3 per cent in the same period. Moreover, of the two candidates for Taoiseach next time out, Brian Cowen is also up three points to 52 per cent, with Enda Kenny down one point to 41 per cent; yet Fine Gael is standing by its campaign of attacks and negativity while claiming its leader is now the "people's choice".
With delusion like that, who needs spin? - Is mise,
DAVID CARROLL,
Castle Gate,
Dublin 2.
Madam, - Joe Singleton, (January 26th) is scornful of your opinion poll findings and of the extensive coverage of what he calls "the all-prevailing anti-Ahern sentiment".
He doesn't refer to the frequent private polls commissioned by Mr Ahern's Government; presumably Fianna Fáil has greater confidence in opinion polls than Mr Singleton does.
As to the number of articles and letters to the media regarding Mr Ahern, this is surely a reflection of the extraordinary situation whereby the Taoiseach is unable to provide credible explanations for the very large sums of money which he has apparently received. The fact that he did not operate bank accounts or keep financial records during this period, when he was finance minister, only adds to the bizarreness of this situation. - Yours, etc,
GEAROID Ó DUBHáIN,
Mount Oval village,
Rochestown,
Co Cork.