Sir, – I am delighted that Leo Varadkar has been elected leader of Fine Gael. That he can assert that prejudice has no hold in this republic is change for the better. A step in the right direction. His opportunity, if as expected he is elected taoiseach, is to be the leader that delivers to the Proclamation’s ambition of “cherishing all the children of the nation equally”, in particular the youngest and the most vulnerable. I hope so. – Yours, etc,
JONATHAN LAW,
Malahide,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Your Saturday edition was replete with coverage of Mr Varadkar's election, his sexual orientation, his ethnic roots in India, etc, all of which was laudable. There was not a single mention of his mother and her Waterford roots. Is this a record? It seems that the only thing Waterford is good for is providing editors of The Irish Times, otherwise we are invisible in your newspaper. – Yours, etc,
DES GRIFFIN,
Newtown,
Waterford.
Sir, – My suspicion for the weighting in favour of the parliamentary party in choosing the new leader of Fine Gael has something to do with personal interests, ie ensuring their own jobs in the new scheme of things.
By having a major say in choosing the new leader, the sitting members of the parliamentary party can make a calculated bet on who to back in the forthcoming contest, thus ensuring their own self-advancement. – Yours, etc,
RORY O’CONNOR,
Kenmare,
Co Kerry.
Sir, – Una Mullally ("Varadkar election a strange one for LGBT people", Opinion & Analysis, June 5th), remarking on Leo Varadkar's victory, seems to be upset that there are people within the LGBT community who do not share her left-wing views. Her article is highly reminiscent of another piece that she wrote for this paper in March 2016 in which she said that she was "genuinely shocked" that young LGBT students in UCD were members of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, parties she described as "the enemy, the bastions of conservatism" ("Losing youth vote is part of Labour's midlife crisis", March 7th, 2016).
Surely the fact that more “conservative” parties are now welcoming spaces for LGBT people is a positive sign for Irish society or does Una Mullally prefer a situation of perpetual marginalisation from the political mainstream? It seems to me to be quite obvious that the struggle for greater visibility for LGBT people in Irish life would be an extraordinary waste of time if the community is expected to be a kind of left-wing collective of automatons, wearing Repeal jumpers like a uniform, in absolute lockstep with the political left on all social and economic issues and consumed with a hatred for the Catholic Church.
Surely LGBT young people would benefit more from the example of role models, such as Leo Varadkar, who can think for themselves. – Yours, etc,
NIALL GUINAN,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – Una Mullally, in her wisdom, seems to think she speaks for and knows the political views of the LGBT community in proclaiming that “Varadkar’s politics are relatively rare among those who marched for his rights”. Her article is, perhaps, the leitmotif of the crisis of the Left preaching to the converted. If the latter political dispensation is, in Una Mullally’s eyes, more representative of the LGBT community, Leo Varadkar being leader of Fine Gael would be evidence of the fallacious claim.
Tolerance only extends to those who think the same way, it seems. – Yours, etc,
GARRY O’SULLIVAN,
Macroom,
Co Cork.