Sir, – Your editorial, (“That Looming Election” November, 23rd), is based on the assumption, almost universally shared by commentators, that the present Dáil cannot continue beyond 2016.
It is true that under current legislation the Dáil must be dissolved no later than March 8th, 2016, that is within five years from the date of its first meeting. However, this legislative constraint, enacted as Section 10 of the Electoral Act of 1963, can, like any other legislative provision, be amended by the Oireachtas.
Faced with electoral catastrophe it is not improbable that the current administration, with its huge Dáil majority, would seek to allow for a continuation for seven years, the limit laid down in Article 16.5 of Bunreacht na hÉireann.
Turkeys, if given the chance, would surely vote to defer Christmas by a couple of years. – Yours, etc,
JOE KEHOE,
Castletown Drive,
Celbridge,
Co Kildare.