Sir, – So now we see the Sinn Féin strategy (“Dáil adjourned until Tuesday after Mary Lou McDonald sit-in”, November 13th). Obliterate all embarrassing talk of cover-ups of sex crimes by creating a big diversionary noise elsewhere. Mary-Lou McDonald, by her sit-in in Leinster House, has displayed Sinn Féin’s contempt for democracy and a cynical disregard for the electorate. – Yours, etc,
GERARD McDERMOTT,
Gorey, Co Wexford.
Sir, – If the Ceann Comhairle cannot stand the heat, he should get out of the kitchen. If the media is going to vilify a TD that dares to challenge the status quo, then we are left with a culture of deference that benefits nobody except the establishment. – Yours, etc,
ANNE-MARIE McNALLY,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – One person took it upon herself to tear up the rules and destroy the ability to function of the forum chosen by the electorate of this democratic republic to represent and make decisions on behalf of all citizens. That is totalitarian intolerance for democratic procedures and should be stated to be such. Instead what has happened is that much of the media coverage has made that person a celebrity. – Yours, etc,
A LEAVY,
Dublin 13.
Sir, – Having spent decades supporting an armed terrorist campaign that tried to shut down the Dáil, Sinn Féin has finally succeeded in doing so – for a day, at least. Ms McDonald’s behaviour this week gives a good flavour of what we can expect if Sinn Féin is ever elected to government.
Most rational observers would agree that the level of parliamentary oversight which the Dáil has over the Government remains a joke in comparison to other national parliaments. However, some parliamentary oversight is better than none. If Sinn Féin was happy to shut down the Dáil for a full day while in opposition, just a day after its own conduct, past and present, was exposed to sharp parliamentary oversight, then I doubt it would have any compunction about doing so if it were ever elected to government.
In the British House of Commons or the US Houses of Congress if a member was ordered to leave and refused to do so, they would be physically dragged out of the chamber by the sergeant-at-arms. A similar rule applies in the Dáil; however, according to media reports, the Captain of the Guard did no more than politely ask Ms McDonald to leave the chamber. Would a male member have been treated with kid-gloves in this way? Ms McDonald has been quick to use her gender to deflect criticism in the past, resisting objections to her populist grandstanding with cries of “sexism”. It seems that she was allowed to get away with her conduct this week on the basis that she would do likewise on this occasion. – Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Clontarf, Dublin 3.
Sir, – Mary-Lou McDonald has been accused by the the Ceann Comhairle of causing “reputational damage to the institution” (ie Dáil Éireann). Is this because she actually bothered to be present in the chamber and then had the impertinence to demand an answer from a Minister to the question asked, behaviour which, of course, cannot be allowed to continue for fear it undermines Irish democracy as we know it? – Yours, etc,
ROGER BLACKBURN,
Naul, Co Dublin.
Sir, – If Sinn Féin forms the next government it will only be because power was handed to it by those who abdicated it by refusing to govern properly. – Yours, etc,
CHRISTIAN MORRIS,
Howth, Dublin 13.
Sir, – The president and vice-president of Sinn Féin both recently announced their intention to break the law on water charges, notwithstanding that the law in question has been approved democratically by the Oireachtas. Now, that party’s vice-president refuses to abide by the vote of Dáil members on her suspension from the House. For me, this calls into question the commitment of Sinn Féin to democracy. – Yours, etc,
TOM SHEEDY,
Malahide, Co Dublin.