Power and responsibilty

A chara, – Pat Leahy claims that one of the main reasons the Irish left has yet to make it into government is its wariness of “the responsibility of power” that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are so willing to take on (“Dream of a left-wing government slipping away and not just because of Sinn Féin slump”, Opinion & Analysis, April 27th).

This leads me to ask: what responsibility?

To be responsible for something means being held accountable for the results of your actions. Some 4,000 children are homeless, our health system is failing our most vulnerable, and the far-right is gaining a foothold due to social corrosion.

These are the results of policies enacted by successive Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil governments.

David McWilliams: The British act of genius that Brexit couldn’t kill

---

Colm Tóibín: ‘Writing a sequel to Brooklyn? The risk is cheapness’

---

Charlie Bird’s wife Claire on his last story: ‘I will try to live my life without this great man beside me’

---

Brake defects, faulty seatbelts, broken doors – the allegations made against a major bus operator

---

Most of the voices I hear holding the Government responsible for these issues are coming from the left-wing of the Dáil, yet Pat Leahy dismisses them as whining from the sidelines.

So, I’m inclined to disagree with both Spider-Man and Pat Leahy; it doesn’t seem like great power comes with great responsibility after all. – Is mise,

JOE JOYCE,

Roscam,

Galway.