‘Rotten legacy’ is not confined to Haughey

JOHN O’DRISCOLL (Letters, January 3) is missing the point when he says that replacing the Taoiseach with the Tánaiste “would give us a clean break from Haughey’s rotten legacy”.

The problem is not Haughey’s rotten legacy, but the corruption of politicians as a result of being in power too long. People in all parties are liable to be corrupted by power. Haughey was merely a spectacular example.

For the good of our democracy, Fianna Fáil needs to spend a period in opposition. Telling us that the opposition is incapable of governing, as they did during the last election campaign, merely shows how they consider themselves indispensable. That is arrogant and unhealthy.

It repeats the charge that our former imperial masters used to level at the “mere Irish” — that they could not govern themselves. Their rule here was the ultimate lesson in how power corrupts. I hope we have learned enough from our colonial past to refrain from leaving the levers of power in the hands of the same people for too long. Change the government — not just the person at the top.

Anthony Leavy

1 Shielmartin Drive

Sutton

Dublin 13