These support teams I speak of are the very life-blood and soul of a candidate's campaign, and see individuals put much of their lives on hold for the good of a candidate or party.

County Councillors, outgoing TDs, Senators, family and friends all came together to encourage and champion their candidates in the most selfless fashion.

I would like to extend my congratulations to all those who offered so much of their time to the campaign and I hope the unfaltering party support displayed will again be seen during the upcoming Seanad elections.

Volunteers are always needed in our society, be it to run children's sports clubs, aid charities, care for the elderly, help the disabled or indeed to participate in an election campaign.
SENATOR MARY WHITE,
SEANAD EIREANN
* Now that the general election is over I have been left wondering if it was all a nightmare.

The people certainly got a raw deal - the first two weeks were a disgrace. I would be very interested to know where the "leaks" from the Mahon Tribunal came from, because they certainly helped Bertie Ahern.

It could be said that the first two weeks of the campaign were dead, with the emphasis largely on Fianna Fail. The people then find that "He emerged from the water dry", as the Russians say, and a one - week campaign begins.

I would hate to have been an opposition politician for those first two weeks, talking about the issues in a media wilderness. It is not surprising that Fianna Fail put on a spirited campaign: after two weeks of sitting tight they were energised, while the opposition had time to deflate.

The one thing which Fiannan Fail have worked hard on and got right over the past ten years has been its PR machine. We had scaremongering about the smaller parties, to the general effect that Sinnm Fein were all bandits and that the Greens were sandal wearing hippies averse to economics. The economic scare tactics reached a childish level, as though the bogey man was out there somewhere.

The media have been incredibly kind to Mr Ahern. In most countries he would have been torn to shreds. In Britain or the US, he would likely have been shown the door long ago by the people. Unfair or not, that is a fact.
ANTHONY HALPIN,
HERBERT ROAD,
BRAY, CO WICKLOW

Story behind a monument
In condemning Ireland's plan to build the M3 roadway through Tara, Dr Sean Duffy, of the department of medieval history at TCD, is both eloquent and passionate. He stated "No conquering army had ever attempted to destroy it. We will be the first generation in 5,000 years to deface Tara. This motorway will cut us off from our past." (Letters, May 22).

Dr Duffy echoes the voice of Frank O'Connor who was scathingly critical of those who neglected Ireland's heritage and of the educational system which leaves the Irish in such ignorance of their rich history.

O'Connor wrote: "No one who does not love the sense of the past should ever come near us . . . there is a story behind the monuments which you will see on every hand" (Holiday Magazine, December, 1949). He denounced the modern despoilers and "businessmen with an eye to the main chance."

O'Connor recounted the verse of a 9th century poet who wrote from the quiet valley of Tara:
"Tonight at least the wind is high,
The sea's white mane a fury,
I need not fear the hordes of hell
'cross the Irish Channel."
As Bertie Ahern seeks to form a new coalition to govern Ireland, he might seriously reflect that there is indeed a "story behind the monuments" before bulldozers plow up the quiet valley of Tara. The hordes of hell to be feared today are the despoilers from Dublin, no longer those across the Irish Channel. The temporary halt of bulldozing must be made as permanent as the Hill of Tara itself.
ROBERT F LYONS,
KENNEBUNKPORR,
MAINE USA 04043

Majority don't make it right
Contrary to Mr Lynch's assertion, I do not believe that there are inherent problems in democracy itself but rather in a democracy severed from its natural law foundation.

Democracy is a wise and moral system of government when it operates within natural law parameters. Outside of these parameters there can be no true morality, only power struggles. If there is no ultimate, unchanging standard for right and wrong then nothing is right and nothing is wrong. All things are permissible.

All we need is democratic authorization.

There are no consistent reasons for denying us the right to barbecue babies or starve the poor if we secure a democratic mandate to do so.

The fact that we reject these ideas instinctively indicates the objective reality of the natural law. Political, economic and social issues can legitimately be subject to the democratic process. But moral issues by their very nature can't be.

How can a democratic majority decide whether something is right or wrong? If it's wrong, it will continue to be wrong even if a majority say it is right.

It can't be otherwise, since we do not and cannot create moral truths. We can only discover and receive them.

Hence it is true, as Mr Lynch states, that my idea of what is right may differ from his own idea of what is right. But we can't both be right. In reality, one of us is right and the other wrong.

Historically, however, there has been a broad general consensus about moral truths. As C S Lewis put it, "From the Babylonian Hymn to Samos, from the Laws of Manu, the Book of the Dead, the Analects, the Stoics, the Platonists, from Australia aborigines . . . " one discovers the same "denunciations of oppression, murder, treachery and falsehood, the same injunctions of kindness to the aged, the young, and the weak, of alms-giving and impartiality and honesty."

This obviously indicates an objective standard.
MICHAEL O'DRISCOLL,
BLACKROCK, CORK

Why so few women TDs?
The reason there are so few woman in politics is because other women make eachother feel guilty about the sacrifices required to succeed in a political career.

Traditionally men were quite happy to leave all childcare and household duties to their wives (usually) while they went out to support the wife and children.

Most men accepted they could not be full time fathers if they had a full time career, which is why men do not beat up other men about it.

As children grow up and mature they come to understand the pressures on parents to provide an income and their missing father missing father can be seen in perspective.

Maybe women should learn from men. If a woman wants to succeed in politics - or any other career - that means putting in the hours and having their focus 100pc on that goal. Something else has to give.

In this supposedly post feminist age it is reasonable to ask why career women and housewives view each other as competitors. Both have chosen different roles in life and both choices are equally valid. A housewife should not be made feel guilty that she "doesn't work" when in fact it is damn hard work making a comfortable, secure home for a family. And a career woman should not feel guilty because she doesn't bake or iron.

If women want to be fully active in politics they need to make arrangements.

No more nonsense about female quotas and the like. Instead, more emphasis on more well rounded individuals being able to let go and stop being control freaks. Open communication between partners on what they want from life and honesty with their children will do more to encourage woman to enter politics than any other lame gimmicks.
DESMOND FITZGERALD,
CANARY WHARF,
LONDON