Letters

A new leader for Fine Gael – and the country

Taking stock and moving forward

Sat Mar 23 2024 - 00:10

A chara, – As the dust settles on the news of Leo Varadkar’s impending resignation as Taoiseach, it is worth acknowledging his pivotal role in three aspects of recent Irish history.

First, his calm and clear leadership, during a time of national response to the global pandemic caused by Covid, provided comfort and reassurance to the citizens of this country while also communicating a clear view of the facts as they emerged.

However, his leadership during the outbreak of Covid will arguably stand out as an example of how our political leaders can and should treat citizens as adults, communicating such difficult messages with confidence, calm and clarity. For that alone, we are in his debt.

Second, he had the courage to bring together old Civil War political rivals, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and to build a Coalition comprising these former foes, and alternate the role of taoiseach with Micheál Martin: a completely unprecedented move.

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Third, his stand in defence of Ireland’s needs in the face of Brexit was determined and resolute, despite the often cavalier attitude of the UK government toward the Republic.

No doubt, there will be lessons to be learned, as well as gratitude to be expressed for Mr Varadkar’s role in the contemporary political life of our nation. – Is mise,

CONALL O’SUILLEABHAIN,

Ratoath,

Co Meath.

Sir, – Last week the electorate’s delivered a crushing blow to the urban liberal elite leading to the resignation of the Taoiseach.

Reading your reports on the selection of a new leader of Fine Gael (and taoiseach), I find it scarcely credible that the party is giving serious consideration to selecting its leader from among a small coterie of like-minded individuals.

Have they learned nothing at all from the referendum results? – Yours, etc,

PADDY BARRY,

Killiney,

Co Dublin.

Sir, – Under Leo Varadkar’s stewardship, Fine Gael has not done well in elections or referendums, and the signs don’t look good for the upcoming local elections.

Can we say things are better now compared to when he first became Taoiseach?

I’m not sure. Housing and health are still major issues, and now we have another crisis with immigration. – Yours, etc,

BARRY ROONEY

Ashford,

Co Wicklow.

Sir, – Watching Lucinda Creighton on Prime Time on Wednesday evening brought on a twinge of nostalgia, and a feeling of “what could have been” for Fine Gael. Her poise, clear communication, and screen presence shone through in this brief cameo.

While some in Fine Gael would view her social conservatism as an issue, is this not precisely the direction in which Fine Gael must now travel politically to regain the rural, more conservative vote that it appears to have lost?

Is it too late for the “grandees” in Fine Gael to extend an olive branch to Ms Creighton in order to broaden its current appeal to the electorate? – Yours, etc,

JOHN NAUGHTON,

Leopardstown,

Dublin 18.

Sir, – How strange it is to see Opposition politicians who are normally so happy to call for the resignation of some Minister or high-ranking official to be in such a flap when someone actually resigns after a failed campaign.

One is left wondering whether they are more upset that they didn’t call for the resignation or didn’t table yet another no confidence vote in time. – Yours, etc,

AIDAN McGRATH,

Waterford.

A chara, – In response to letter writer Anthony Munnelly’s question (March 22nd) as to why four out of the five last taoisigh were ministers of health before taking on higher office, I think this can be easily explained by the fact that you must be able to chop onions before becoming an executive chef. – Is mise,

DERMOT O’ROURKE,

Lucan,

Co Dublin.

Sir, – The lack of magnanimity shown to the departing Taoiseach in the Dáil chamber by the Opposition was telling and most disappointing. In the past, such an event would have brought out the very best in Opposition Oireachtas members.

At a time when coarseness in society is rife and vile abuse are constantly being directed at public representatives via social media, an opportunity for Opposition TDs to model civility and common decency was wasted. How dispiriting this is. – Yours, etc,

PJ McDERMOTT,

Westport,

Co Mayo.

Sir, – Leo Varadkar stated in his resignation speech that he has “absolute confidence that the country and the economy are in a good place”.

Could he let us know which country he is referring to? – Yours, etc,

SEAMUS O’MALLEY,

Clontarf,

Dublin 3.

Sir – It looks like Simon Harris will be the next taoiseach. He has at most a year to get in tune with public sentiment before facing the electorate. I suggest his first act should be to scrap the Hate Speech Bill and get the Department of Justice focused on real crime and the enforcement of our existing immigration legislation. These are essential for social cohesion in the country.

If they don’t do it now, who will believe anything they say on the doorsteps 12 months from now? – Yours, etc,

E BOLGER,

Dublin 9.

Sir, – In April 2020, then-minister for Simon Harris stated on radio that there were 18 coronaviruses before Covid-19. In a subsequent Twitter posting, he said don’t ask him how or why he made this mistake.

To err is human, and by all accounts Mr Harris is a nice man and a hard worker. That said, those charged with electing Fine Gael’s next leader and our presumptive taoiseach must satisfy themselves that they are not voting for a spoofer who is happy to wing it until found out. – Yours, etc,

MICHAEL MOORE,

Donnybrook,

Dublin 4.

A chara, – Surely the ungenerous and highly partisan comments of Sinn Féin’s deputy leader Michelle O’Neill following the announcement of the stepping aside of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (News, March 21st) demonstrates that the heralding a of a new dawn, which we were told accompanied her election as First Minister, does not include fair recognition of the achievements of political leaders, south of the Border, who do not belong to her own political party? – Is mise,

VINCENT O’NEILL,

Ballina,

Co Tipperary.

Sir, – Harris hawks can reach speeds of up to 45m/ph. The speed at which Simon Harris hit the campaign trail may even have surpassed this. The early bird, and all that. – Yours, etc,

DAVID CURRAN,

Knocknacarra,

Galway.

Sir, – During my childhood in the 1970s and 1980s, Ireland was a grim place, without obvious prospects of improvement and struggling with the consequences of mass emigration. Now it is among the most successful and happiest countries in the world.

We did not strike oil or find a pot of gold. The succession of leaders this country has seen have not all been geniuses nor saints – but they’ve been well above international norms and have wrought enormous improvements in our collective fortunes.

This is most obviously evident in how we now are challenged by immigration.

Specifically as leader, Mr Varadkar’s management of the Covid pandemic was exceptional. As the disease went global there was a bizarre early frenzy of attempts to point out which nations were doing best.

Characterisation of their premiers, by gender or age, was often cited as contributing, rather than the more obvious point that the disease just hadn’t got to all locations at the same time.

In The Lancet in 2022, Ireland was reported to have had one of the lowest levels of excess mortality in Europe from the disease.

At 12.5 per hundred thousand it was less than a tenth of that in Northern Ireland, where 131 was the relevant figure (“Covid-19: Ireland had one of lowest excess death rates in world, study finds”, News, March 10th, 2022).

Whether they know it or not, there are logically then about 6,000 people alive in Ireland today who would not be had we followed strategies comparable to the UK at that time. It is nice to be able to use the phrase of having “done the state some service” without irony. – Yours, etc,

BRIAN O’BRIEN,

Kinsale,

Co Cork.

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