Sir, – Senator Michael McDowell comments that the media has failed to "inform the people about the true nature of Sinn Féin", or at least the true picture insofar as he outlines it ("We are sleepwalking into the hands of democratic centralism", Opinion & Analysis, December 9th).
The idea that the Irish media sugar-coats Sinn Féin to the public would be a surprise to anyone who reads pretty much any of the mainstream press in Ireland.
The Irish Independent is widely acknowledged to have a strongly anti-Sinn Féin editorial line, and it’s not as if the more prominent columnists in either the Irish Examiner or, indeed, The Irish Times have pulled any punches either.
I write this as a supporter of another party that is not, in fact, Sinn Féin, and I certainly think the party deserves scrutiny and criticism, especially over the mess it has made with some of the recent events.
However, I would posit that the speculation by Mr McDowell over the supposed threat to the institutions of the State by a Sinn Féin government is likely to ring hollow to those who see Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments appoint supporters to various roles within the State, including the highest judicial positions in the country, a practice which we now seem to have completely normalised over the decades.
It also rings hollow to those who have been failed by that very same State in recent times.
If Mr McDowell really thinks that Sinn Féin is that much of a threat to our democracy, I look forward to seeing him repudiate the failed neoliberal governance model he helped to push while in cabinet, which has lead to serious deficiencies in health and housing that voters are actively looking for solutions to. – Yours, etc,
TOMÁS M CREAMER,
Ballinamore,
Co Leitrim.