CAN Richard Bruton have any idea of how incendiary his remarks are in view of the billions all but extorted out of the Irish people to repay recidivist banks, developers and bondholders?

AN early test of Fine Gael’s commitment to real political reform will be whether it rescinds the extraordinarily undemocratic rule (introduced by Fianna Fáil) whereby political parties can “co-opt” unelected people onto town and county councils where former councillors have been elected to the Dáil.

FINE GAEL must be stark, staring mad.

FERGUS Finlay writes (July 13) about how when in government the Labour party made good progress in improving services for people with disability.

THE Irish Examiner has again proved that its track record on coverage of disability issues surpasses that of any other newspaper in the country.

READING Terry Prone’s column (May 17) reminded me of an elderly relative who was staying with our family back in the early 1970s.

IN his letter headlined ‘I feel blessed in the US – not Ireland’ (January 30), Dr Cormac Duffy describes a living nightmare – from the cacophony of religious radio stations, through visual assaults on passers-by from gawdy church signs to the bible and religious artefact-stuffed supermarkets.

I HOPE the Fine Gaelers who dedicated themselves so heartily to taunting Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe about his decision to close the schools are happy.

LAST Friday, Deputy Paul Gogarty of the Green party was heard in the Dáil attempting to persuade Labour’s Deputy Emmet Stagg — and the country at large — of the sincerity of his conviction that inflicting savage cuts on those who cannot afford them might be wrong but it was necessary. Deputy Stagg evidently had some understandable difficulty with the contradiction in Deputy Gogarty’s assertion.

I WRITE in response to Margaret Browne’s letter (July 2) about the heartlessness of Terry Prone’s column on the subject of cancer (June 29).

CONSIDERING the direct role that corruption and cronyism – and the incompetence that are their signature – have played in bringing economic ruin, it’s depressing that so few candidates seem to be making these issues a priority in the lead-up to the local and European elections.

I AM vehemently opposed to the notion of a national unity government.

YOUR editorial (March 3) about the forthcoming budget concludes with the assertion that the alternative to cutting wages, taxing the poorest and cutting public services is “unthinkable”.

IN her letter (January 14), Miriam Cotton claimed Steven King’s column (January 7) on Israeli actions in Gaza embodied an astounding “distortion of fact and history”.

I OBJECT strongly to Steven King’s column (January 7). The distortion of fact and history that it embodies is astounding.

I DEFY anyone who is not familiar with the motorways/roads out of Dublin to Cork to navigate them without getting lost.

IT’S not just the politicians that people did not believe. There ought to be a lesson in the referendum result for the mainstream media.

A RECENT editorial (June 6) might leave some people scratching their heads and wondering where you can have been during the last two US presidential elections.

WOULD the Irish Examiner care to confirm that its editorial (‘Cross-party response to crisis needed’, November 29) was not a verbatim reproduction of a PD press release?

IT IS heartening to see the Irish Examiner’s coverage of special education needs in recent weeks.

I HAVE to take issue with Fergus Finlay’s column headlined ‘Aisling’s story shows how special people are doing it for themselves’ (Irish Examiner, September 19).

I MUST respond to the letters from Edward Horgan and Miriam Cotton (Irish Examiner, June 20).

I TAKE exception to the letter from Lt Col Bill Hurley, formerly of the US Marines (Irish Examiner, June 13).