Letters: We don’t have a far right in Ireland, it’s just people are concerned at Government’s impotence

The Government, supported by its comfortable centre-right constitu­ents, has failed to come to terms with the reason behind the swing to far-right politics ��� or, rather, the perception of a far-right swing.

I argue that there is little or no real far-right movement in Ireland, just a very understandable reaction to a crisis in which the Government seems to be impotent.

My father said to me many years ago that he could never understand an Irish man being racist when we had suffered so much racism ourselves.

Both my parents left from different Irish counties to find work in London after the war. Both went on Sunday and started work on Monday. Neither expected nor received handouts, and they certainly never expected to be housed and given government benefits.

My son is 18. If he left Ireland today to seek a life in any other country, would/should he expect this? I think/hope not.

The sudden explosion of what seems to be an army of able-bodied working-age men, many of whom have travelled from England to avoid deportation, is a natural concern, and we need a fair but decisive way to deal with this.

We need migration to Ireland as we have a shortage of workers. As a shopkeeper myself, I see how hard it is to get staff, but we also need to ensure the people arriving to find a better life are also here to work and contribute.

The Government and the media need to stop portraying the protesters at proposed accommodation centres as far-right. They are not. Most are concerned members of small communities that rightly should have a say in major changes to the demographics of their residential areas.

The thugs who burn the centres and incite violence or intimidation of asylum-seekers are perhaps what we call far-right, and they need to feel the full weight of the law.

This vocal and violent 5pc will use the asylum-seekers as their punchbag and jump on any bandwagon to vent their anger at the world. They cannot and should not be seen as representative of society.

I believe that if we find a fair way to deal with the current crisis, the bogeyman of the far right will once again be confined to the shadows of Irish society.

Bobby O’Neill, Killeens, Co Wexford

Perhaps voters had one eye on the past as much as the future at the ballot box

In the context of the forensic election analysis as to why the government parties did remarkably well while the main opposition party faded, it seems to me that sight has been lost of how competently the Coalition dealt with the unprecedented challenges of Covid-19 and Brexit, both of which bore calamitous potential.

It may not all be about current demands and future needs – the electorate seems to have cast an eye in the rear-view mirror when going to the polls.

Michael Gannon, Saint Thomas Square, Kilkenny

Can Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael drop the pretence of difference and just merge?

With regard to the battle to become the biggest party in local govern­ment, can someone tell me if Tweedle­dum won, or was it Tweedle­dee? And does it matter?

The plain fact is that the main right-wing government party – operating under two brand names – won the election handsomely with roughly 46pc of the vote.

Will they ever do the honest thing and formally merge the two brands? Hardly, when a bit of faux competition can produce results like this.

Fintan Lane, Lucan, Co Dublin

After all the drama in the lead-up to election, once again democracy prevails

The votes have been counted. The voice of democracy has been heard. The people have spoken.

Funny thing is, after such a hue and cry, it has such a familiar ring.

M O’Brien, Dalkey, Co Dublin

Daithí gets a defeat on his record after being given a 10-count on the day

I read that Daithí de Róiste has been ousted by former pugilist Phil Sutcliffe (Irish Independent, June 10). Beaten on the 10th count, it’s all on the canvass.

Noel Kelly, Doonbeg, Co Clare

Government’s ‘success’ is not indicative of how a general election might go

If there is a lesson from the European and local elections for journalists and politicians alike, it is that these elections are not referendums on the Government.

Voters will have a variety of reasons why they vote or don’t vote for certain candidates, and being in government or opposition is only a small consideration in their thinking.

The attempts by opposition parties, like Sinn Féin, to use these referendums to change the Government have failed miserably.

However, both the Government and the opposition should be warned that while in these elections the Government’s message worked and the opposition’s failed, that does not mean the general election will be the same.

Jason Fitzharris, Swords, Co Dublin

Hamas didn’t start the war on October 7, Israel did all the way back in 1948

Danny Cohen (‘Genocidal Hamas leadership is making end to war impossible’, Irish Independent, June 10)claims Hamas “began this war” – the Israel-Palestine war – last October 7.

I would respectfully suggest that the war was, in fact, started by Israel in 1948, when 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes.

Since that time, Palestinians have been subjected to an institutionalised regime of systematic oppression by Israel – seizure of land, home demolitions, imprisonment without trial, humiliation and violence at military checkpoints, while numerous laws discriminate against Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Hamas is not militarily organised in the Occupied West Bank, yet Palestinians who live there endure frequent attacks by illegal Israeli settlers, often working hand in glove with the Israeli military occupation forces.

Acts that we can see daily on our TV screens of such actions are illegal under international law, which is looked on with contempt by Israel.

David Murphy, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14