Sir, - I fast and abstain. I sing in the choir. And I attend Mass twice weekly. But I doubt if any of these things will save me from the fires of hell for remaining a member of the party I love. (Really, Mr Editor, I am employing a figure of speech and I don't mean every thing I say literally.)
In the dying dog days of this undistinguished Coalition, the Progressive Democrats have conspired to travesty the name of democracy. Dissatisfaction around here with the handling of the waste disposal issue has crossed the border into resentment. And there are too many other issues where an unseen hand seems to direct the iron troops of local government into bungled schemes and inexplicable, hopeless departures.
Noel Dempsey's latest idea to have the Health Research Board "research" the implications of different methods of waste disposal to help him adjudicate what plan is to be finally adopted is a false attempt to still the objections of a sceptical public. The board will drag its reputation in the dirt if it allows itself to be used as a tool of political expediency in this way.
In the same way, deficiencies in the political domain will have implications that will threaten the independence of judges, making wise judgment next to impossible. Academic freedom will be the next thing to fly out the window and the Fourth Estate will not have sufficient fabric to shore up the pillars of democracy.
I admit I am a pessimistic person, but I must say I think that not even an election will be enough to stop the rot.
The forces of impending chaos are in the ascendancy. - Yours, etc.,
Sean Crudden, Jenkinstown, Dundalk, Co Louth.