The caveats and explanations in the opening paragraph of the article 'If all politics is local it's bad news for FF' (14 June 2009) show the exercise to be what it is, namely, farmyard manure dressed up to look like political analysis.

But you cannot disguise the stench of futility.

This article attempts to overlay the 2009 local election results across the constituencies to predict the outcome of a general election not due for three years!!! BUNKUM.

The authors appear to forget that Fianna Fáil did badly in the 2004 local elections but recovered three years later (co-incidentally) to form the next government.

It is distressful to think that good forests are being cut down to enable the publication of such misleading tripe.

Austin Cox,

9 Castle Village Walk,

Celbridge, Co Kildare