Madam, - When conducting public surveys, could your pollsters ask people not just to which party they would give their first preference, but to which parties they would give their first and subsequent preferences? Much more information could thus be gleaned, and we might all benefit from a greater understanding of just how plural is contemporary Irish society.
There is a second point here, which relates to a slow but steady and unfortunate trend towards a two-party state - a trend associated with the reducing size of the average multi-member constituency and the habit, which some parties have, of announcing their likely coalition partners before the election.
This trend is surely accelerated by the implication from your pollsters to the effect that there are only two likely forms of coalition.
Is the possibility of a Swiss-style all-party coalition not even on the agenda? Or is the very thought of power-sharing for Northern Ireland only? - Yours, etc,
PETER EMERSON, Director, The de Borda Institute, Ballysillan Road, Belfast 14.