Sir, - I have read with interest the correspondence on this subject, and only Owen J. O'Shea (January 28th) calls for local government reform.
The base of local government is the county council, which has been in existence, practically unchanged, for over 100 years. It needs a most critical reappraisal, but this is unlikely to happen as politicians will be loath to touch it for a variety of reasons, principally that they consider county councils to be the spawning ground of all politicians.
Ireland is the most centralised of EU countries and cries out for proper regional structures to which meaningful decentralisation can take place. The present Mickey Mouse set-up of regions to avail of EU funding is not the answer and is totally artificial. There is no way that Laois and Donegal can identify with each other in a meaningful regional sense.
There are far too many county councils and this frustrates proper decentralisation. There is a county council in Portlaoise, another in Carlow, 25 miles down the road, another in Kilkenny, 29 miles down the road, another in Tullamore, 20 miles away, another in Naas, 30 miles away, another in Mullingar, 40 miles away, another in Nenagh, 44 miles away. Enough said! Fewer authorities with more power are required.
Strange mind-sets and opinions are fostered by this surfeit of county structures. Carlow County Council has said that if there is a dual-carriageway or motorway from Waterford to Dublin via Kilkenny and Carlow, then it must be built east of Carlow town, because to go west would put it in Laois!
Some years ago, Waterford city expanded into Co Kilkenny, and Waterford Corporation had to pay Kilkenny £1 million for the privilege! A similar development of Waterford city is necessary at present but county affiliations are again the bugbear.
So perhaps Mr Noel Dempsey will extend his proposals to include radical local government reform, which would lead to genuine regional structures with authority to deal with regional matters. His commendable proposal to ensure that TDs were national legislators would also be advanced. - Yours, etc.,
John Arrigan, Newpark, Portlaoise, Co Laois.