Howlin is not right about Ireland’s Left

Gerald Howlin (Opinion, Jan 1) contends that the failure of the Left was due to generations of the working class being assimilated into the middle class: “but that dilemma was since answered by the decision of generations of working class people. If you can’t beat them join them”.

The reality is somewhat different. From the formation of this State, in 1922, until the 1980s, the working class, by and large, voted with their feet and left for Britain and elsewhere.

The great majority never returned. A potential social and political revolution was averted by emigration. Many of their descendants became prominent in the Labour and Trade Union movement in the UK.