From Sean Mac Gabhann

WHAT a surprise; revelations from the Mahon tribunal have shown that the statements Bertie gave were not as accurate as he led us to believe. His crocodile tears allowed him to slip out from under the watchful eyes of the media.

The most devious of them all has once again hoodwinked the Irish people. We can now look forward to five more years of tax breaks for special-interest groups, big business and party cronies. Oh if there had only been a way we could have prevented this corrupt government from returning to power. Roll on 2012.

Richard Delevan Sean MacGabhann.

Loughbollard, Claonadh, Contae Chill Dara.

Farewell to Greene's bookshop

From Tony Quinn

OLIVER MCGRANE (Letters, 27 May) lamented the demise of Greene's bookshop, Clare Street, Dublin but remembered its poetic ambience. Before the revered place fades from memory, it's worthwhile recording a conversation which I overheard just before the landmark premises closed. In reply to a senior citizen who expressed shock at the impending closure, the shop assistant tried to reassure her that Greene's was not going out of business but rather relocating to Sandyford.

The customer was pleased and said; "I live near there and will call to your new shop." The assistant emphasied, however, that there would be no retail shop as sales would be online.

A sign of the times but a sombre reflection of current trends.

Tony Quinn Saval Pk Rd Dalkey Co Dublin

A day in the Dail without battles

From Darren Mac an Phriora

FIANNA FAIL can tell us that they bring stable governance to Ireland. However, I do not understand on a rational level why they did not take on board more of the opposition parties' policies in the 29th dail term.

Take Fine Gael's policy for having a ban on alcohol advertising. Why didn't the government bring in legislation for a ban? Will they do so in the 30th Dail?

We are all interested in working for the best of our people and country. Fianna Fail should look at the courageous decision Alan Dukes made in supporting various . . . necessary . . .economic decisions in the late '80s.

Politics in Oireachtas Eireann does not always have to be a battle a day. We can all agree on the rational laws that need to be enacted.

Darren Mac an Phriora Corran Chaislean Cnucha Caislean Cnucha Co Bhaile Atha Cliath

A legacy or the long goodbye

From Shaun Gavigan

THE somewhat surprising result of last week's general election has left Fianna Fail with two possible coalition combinations.

1. FF/PDs/Independents and 2. FF/Greens. This assessment is contingent on the assumption that the Cinderella of Irish politics, the Labour party will not once again decide to shoot itself in the foot and go into coalition with FF and it also assumes that political ideology is still important enough to prevent the PDs and the Greens entering government together with Fianna Fail. Essentially, however, the choice is one for the incoming Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

When the Taoiseach states that stability is the allimportant consideration to be borne in mind in the formation of a new government, I would have to disagree with him.

Stability can be defined in a number of ways but when applied to FF I think most people would automatically translate stability in this instance to mean FF holding on to power for as long as possible. In this sense stability is interchangeable with the word endurance' and I don't think the success of the next administration can be judged merely by remaining in office for the five-year term. Indeed if it is the case that Ahern intends to retire at 60, he will not lead the government into the next election. Therefore, what has to be avoided at all costs is a repeat of Tony Blair's long goodbye in the UK. We must ensure that we do not partake in a 2/3-year retirement party and legacyconstructing era in Irish political life, but this is entirely contingent upon the choice the Taoiseach makes in the next two weeks regarding his coalition partners.

He is now faced with a choice between a remodelled 'more of the same' option as represented by a FF/PD/Ind coalition or a decision to embrace the difficult questions that will arise in a coalition with the Green Party. Flaky and politically unproven, maybe, but the Greens also represent a fresh air in Irish political life.

The macro socio-cultural and economic challenges the Green tackle are the questions of the future and successful coalition between the two parties over a period of 2/3/4 years may transform the political as well as physical environment of the country to a greater extent than any stagnant, status-quo five-year administration. The choice for the Taoiseach is, if he wants his last administration to follow a path of stability and stasis with a decimated PD party and Independents or to embrace the really difficult issues in contemporary Irish society as represented by negotiating a program for government with the Green Party.

People who lived through the 1980s may be weary of unstable governments, but new political circumstances dictate that we are faced with a coalition government in reality. The job of a coalition then should not simply be to ensure stability' but rather should reflect policy and principles that react to the political realties of contemporary society. If in the last 3-4 years of his tenure, the Taoiseach is brave enough to risk embracing the Green Party and their attendant policies, his historical legacy may not have to be contrived or written whilst in office but will be all the more rich for his attempt, however successful, in attempting to undertake difficult and real change for a new Ireland.

Shaun Gavigan, Lurganboy, Ardara, Co Donegal

New face missing in action in coverage

From PJ Quinn ON PAGE 10 (News, 27 May) you profiled the new faces in the 30th Dail, but omitted Longford's James Bannon.PJ Quinn pj_quinn@eircom. net

Bertie's hostages to Tara fortune From Oliver McGrane As a member of the broad electorate, may I highlight a priority from my shopping list? I refer to a statement by Bertie Ahern in 1996: "It is imperative that no more of our irreplaceable national heritage be destroyed because of political inertia."

Taoiseach, please revisit your own words and act accordingly!

Oliver McGrane Marley Avenue, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.

Climate change ignored in election

From John Stafford

How odd that the two most crucial issues of the 21st century, Peak Oil and Climate Change, hardly got a look-in during the elections. In Irish politics, it seems, it is only when a situation deteriorates into a full-blown crisis that action is taken and then, very often, too little too late. Nobody is found to be responsible ("Oh, this government wasn't in power then!") and we hear instead things like "Who could have predicted this?" and "Nobody could have foreseen!" Well, there are three things that can be foreseen with great certainty.

First, the world is inevitably approaching the point where oil supplies will peak, before declining at a significant rate.

The only uncertainty is when it will happen, and the experts reckon that it will happen almost certainly inside ten years and very likely in five, during the term of the next government.

Second, the economic impact of Peak Oil in terms of fuel shortages combined with steeply increasing oil and gas prices will be a shock, especially to this state which successive governments have allowed to become exceptionally dependent on imported oil and gas.

Third, the acceptance of the reality of Climate Change severely limits the available responses to Peak Oil. Coal, for instance, is out ('clean coal', even with all of its problems, will not arrive before Peak Oil, and it may never arrive).

John Stafford Dargle Wood Knocklyon, Dublin 16