There will be much talk about vision and aspirations of an inclusive Ireland for all. The presidency is mostly about symbolism, apart from the power under Article 26 of the Constitution to refer a bill to the Supreme Court.
The Irish population’s relationship with the office is a type of licence to dream without risk, which is why recent presidents have had such a close relationship with the arts.
However, when it comes to hard politics, the economy and bread-and-butter issues, the electorate switches to getting down and dirty and elects the dreary, pragmatic and mundane.
I think a behavioural psychologist would have plenty of material on how people can divide their loyalties by sharing their voting preferences between dreamers and pragmatists when it suits.
There is a story that the late US president Richard Nixon used to roam the corridors of the White House late at night, looking at the portraits of all the past presidents.
When he paused before the portrait of the late John F Kennedy, he would mutter: “When the people see you, they see what they would wish to be. When they look at me, they see who they really are.”
There may be an element of this at play in Irish presidential and general elections.
Joseph Kiely, Letterkenny, Co Donegal
There are many choices for those who don’t like the messaging of Connolly
In his comment piece on the presidency (‘Higgins gave us 14 years of left-leaning takes – he certainly didn’t speak for us all’, November 11), David W Higgins asks who will speak out “for us” who disagree with the President.
His opinions, as revealed in his article, are already very well promoted by Micheál Martin, Simon Harris, Heather Humphreys, the Healy-Raes and the politicians who take their orders from them.
In fact, it is refreshing to hear the views of former president Michael D Higgins and his successor, Catherine Connolly.
They are both a breath of fresh air.
Breasal O’Caollaí, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin
Having two candidates simply makes a mockery of choosing a president
I am not sure it is truthful to speak of a choice with regard to our presidential election this year.
Having two candidates makes a mockery of the office.
Colm Devitt, Kill, Co Kildare
It’s sad there’s no mention of the EU’s role in ending conflict on the continent
It is a great pity that in her first speech, President Catherine Connolly made no reference to the European Union and a protracted peace process started after numerous wars, large and small, on the continent closest to us.
Donal O’Brolcháin, Drumcondra, Dublin
If the price of journalism is too high, just wait until you see the cost of the lies
Máire Treasa Ní Cheallaigh’s warning should be heeded (‘The fourth estate is in trouble – why we need to pay our valuable journalists more’, November 12).
Journalism is becoming a profession for those who can afford poverty, and democracy cannot thrive on that.
When reporters can no longer make a living, the powerful breathe easier and truth becomes a sideline rather than a service.
We need a free and unfettered press to hold the great, the good and the megalomaniacal rich to account.
I’ll admit that journalists sometimes make me want to spit; I often disagree with what they write, but that’s the point?
Free speech loses its meaning if it’s only exercised by those we happen to agree with.
While billionaires expand their platforms and institutions build their own media machines, the people who once asked the awkward questions are being quietly priced out of existence.
If this continues, the economics of information will shift decisively: truth will become a private good.
That’s how democracies decay – not suddenly, but by attrition.
Readers can still change the outcome. Supporting real journalism is not charity; it’s an act of civic self-defence. Once we stop paying for truth, we start paying for propaganda.
Enda Cullen, Tullysaran Road, Armagh
Housing Minister should look abroad to learn how affordable housing works
One notes that a lot of countries have affordable housing. However, the countries that deliver affordable housing have different procedures that look very different from each other.
Housing is relatively affordable in much of France and in Austria. Housing is also very affordable in South American cities, and it’s also affordable in Japanese cities. So one wonders what’s going on in those places?
They may all have separate methodologies, with different models. At the end of the day, these countries have found their own path to achieving an abundance of homes.
May I suggest that Housing Minister James Browne takes time out to study some of these housing success stories? The lessons from such a study might assist our country in building more houses.
John O’Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary
Money is available, so how come providing enough homes will take 15 years?
The Government’s latest National Housing Plan involves, as Taoiseach Micheál Martin says, “the most unprecedented investment in housing ever”.
It appears there is a belief that, if you promise to throw billions of euro at the housing crisis (the Land Development Agency’s budget will be over €8bn), people will actually take your advice and, as Housing Minister James Browne suggests, “hang in there”.
Yet the health service will have a budget of €27bn for 2026 alone and, due to continuing and constant failings, has been described as a “Third World” sector.
If those billions are thrown at the housing crisis, why, as a recent Department of Finance report suggests, will it take 15 years to solve?
Peter Declan O’Halloran, Belturbet, Co Cavan
