Abuse of power: our former rulers did it best

DECLAN Doyle’s obsequious attitude to the proposed visit to this country of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth is hard to defend (Letters, June 28).

To depict the public representatives elected by the citizens of this democratic republic as “a loathsome political class” – as Mr Doyle does – is to indulge in hyperbole.

As in all democracies our politicians, being human, have shown themselves to be venal and corruptible.

Those who have held the reins of power recently are especially open to criticism since they are in office too long and have not been sufficiently held to account for nearly bankrupting the country.

But to depict the working of our democratic system since independence as one of craven immaturity designed to “utilise the resources of our infant nation to line the pockets of the cleverest buckos” is so over the top as to be laughable.

Politicians who have participated in government in this country are not immune to charges of abuse of power. But when put beside the Penal Laws perpetrated by our former imperial masters, who for more than 100 years not alone disenfranchised in excess of 90% of Irish people but deprived them of even minimal participation in economic life, the abuse of power by our politicians pales into insignificance.

The same is true of the abuse of power by which one million Irish people were allowed die of starvation in the metropolitan area of an empire which had access to enough resources to prevent their deaths many times over.

In my opinion, since the vast majority of the people of this island voted to support the Good Friday Agreement, there is no reason why Queen Elizabeth should not visit this country.

But as Declan Doyle says, if anyone is to express sorrow for past deeds and look for forgiveness the present-day representative of the former British empire has more to apologise for than the people of this country.

Anthony Leavy

Shielmartin Drive

Sutton

Dublin 13