Dear Mary Lou,

It’s been a while. Yes, we bump into each other as you come into Newstalk Towers for interviews but can you believe it’s twenty years since we were in the same class? I was the firebrand student union hack while you were the quietly diligent scholastic one.

How times have changed.

I’m the hurler on the ditch while you are possibly one of the most respected politicians ‘down south’. I love your work chasing Ange and Frankie. The world is your oyster. But we need to talk about Gerry.

Yes, the peace process has brought us out of a really dark place which haunted both of our childhoods as we watched the war unfold from north of the border.

I’m big enough to understand that bad things happened during the conflict on all sides. The people I respect are those who say: ‘Yep. We did bad things and hurt people but we want to work at making things better.’

Martin McGuinness has done this amazingly well. Yes he’s had a past and he’s totally honest about it.He is now a hard working politician working for the whole of his community.

I gave serious thought to voting him for President. I really did but then he got a serious dose of Gerry-itis. He started to duck and dive about his past. Just like Gerry does.

Mary Lou, you and people like Pearse are on the cusp of something very special. You understand the hurt a large portion of Irish people are feeling. You are coming up with interesting policies.

From my humble view, I just don’t believe Gerry whole-heartedly understands the nuances of Irish society and how we view the Troubles. The South is not West Belfast.

Are you willing to wait ‘til the fun that will be Easter 2016 and allow Gerry his time in the sun? That seems the only reason why he is hanging around the stage. Politics has become a young person’s game and Gerry seems strangely out of step.

Gerry has done the state some service but we need him to understand honesty is an attribute we like in politicians.

Do you think you could put in a word for us?

Yours,

Steve