Left-wing alternative to austerity policies needed

The key problem with people such as Jim from Sligo (Letters, April 21) calling for a return to the core values of the Labour Party is that these values have been diluted and fragmented to such a degree over the past century as to become almost meaningless.

It is no surprise to see people such as Sean Counihan calling for a merger of Fianna Fáil and Labour. In my opinion, this should have happened many years ago, given that both parties have been competing for the votes of the same socio-economic classes for many years.

That both parties continue to appeal to sectional interests only serves to fragment the increasingly scattered Irish Left, with Sinn Féin waiting to pounce. While personally I find Sinn Féin and their faux concern abhorrent, given their past record, I welcome attempts to coalesce a left-wing alternative to the austerity being peddled by Fine Gael. However, this comes with a warning: many attempts have been made to coagulate the myriad ideologies contained on the Irish Left, from social democrats to hardline Marxists and Stalinists. All have failed.