Without labouring the point, give Catholicism a break

Much has been written and spoken in attempts to explain the ignominious collapse of the Labour Party vote in the Meath by-election, but as yet I have not heard one commentator refer to the fact that under his leadership Eamon Gilmore is making it more difficult for a Catholic to vote for Labour.

Tens of thousands may be emigrating, dole queues may be at record levels, the poor may be shivering in the Arctic-like conditions that overhang the country, yet Labour persists in its crusade to consign the Catholic Church to the dustbin of Irish history. Such fundamentalism is positively frightening.

There can be little doubt that the by-election result was hugely influenced by Labour’s abandonment of the pre-General Election promises, yet even the most die-hard Labour voter who shares the Catholic faith must be asking themselves, in good conscience, can they continue to vote for a party whose leadership holds their faith in such naked contempt. Not alone Catholics, members of the other Christian churches must be asking themselves the same question.

Surely within the Labour Party itself there are Christians who are beginning to wonder whether or not they can remain in a party which is so openly hostile to their faith.

There was a time when its critics used to claim that the Labour Party was the political wing, not of the trade unions, but of the Society of the St Vincent de Paul. How laughable would such a criticism be today.

Peadar Kelly

Sillogue Gardens

Ballymun

Dublin 11