Madam, - The current debates on pre-election political promises should remind us how privileged we are to live in a democratic republic where can make up our own minds. We can complain about the hypocrisy of spokesmen for the Government, which spent large sums of taxpayers' money announcing a national plan to spend even larger amounts of taxpayers money, complaining about the Opposition indulging in "auction politics". Alternatively, we can point out that Opposition parties have little credibility when criticising the Government for "auction politics" if they indulge in similar tactics themselves.
After all, it's our money that both Government and Opposition are talking about and we should be wise enough not be bought with it. - Yours, etc,
A. LEAVY, Shielmartin Drive, Sutton, Dublin 13.