Electorate is to blame for general election mess

Dan Kiely, CEO of Voxpro, (Irish Examiner, April 2) said “the decision of the electorate in February’s general election was abundantly clear. The people want change and stability.”

This is an extraordinary statement. If the decision of the people at the election was “abundantly clear”, then we would have a government by now, instead of weeks of further uncertainty. Far from voting for “stability”, as Mr Kiely claims, the people voted for instability and chaos.

The only stable government on offer at the election, Fine Gael and Labour, was resoundingly rejected, and in the latter case, almost obliterated. In its place the electorate rewarded Sinn Féin and various left wing parties, all of whom had clearly stated they would not enter government. This was hardly the action of an electorate that wanted “stability”.

The media and various know-it-all commentators have queued up in recent weeks to blame Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil for the election result and to lay the responsibility for resolving the situation at their feet. But isn’t it about time that the electorate took some responsibility for this mess?

In the meantime, if his commentary on the current position is anything to go by, then Mr Kiely should stick to business and stay out of politics.

Barry Walsh

Clontarf

Dublin 3