The left’s reckless emotion is not compatible with good government

The general election campaign is the most divisive and emotionally charged since the foundation of the State. The sheer volume of radical, left-wing candidates is truly worrying.

The radical left are attempting to convince less-educated voters that they can provide a utopian society in which taxes are abolished and public services are bountiful. The radicals are leading the electorate down a path of poverty and destruction. A decent society is incongruous with the erosion of the tax base.

I truly despair that Ireland is going to elect a parliament of left-leaning sycophants and foghorn politicians.

With threats of nationalisation of foreign-owned companies (Ruth Coppinger, 2014) and of making Irish Water staff redundant(Gerry Adams, 2016), it should not be a surprise when foreign direct investment dries up and the multinationals leave for good.

They claim (the radicals) that they stand for equality, yet achieving the equality they espouse would simply make us all equally impoverished. One only has to look at the government of Alexis Tsipras, and his Syriza Party, in Greece, to realise that the politics of the far left is the politics of poverty.

The reckless emotionalism of the radical left and responsible, ethical government are incompatible. As citizens, we have the moral responsibility to ensure that the people we elect work in the national interest of the country and not as an ideological project doomed to failure.

Philip Jones

Meadow Park Lawn

Ballyvolane

Cork