Sir, – The most recent municipal elections in France (March 2014) saw the renewal of municipal councils and mayors in some 36,681 towns. A total of 926,068 candidates were officially registered.
The vast majority of French communes (municipalities) have less than 3,500 inhabitants; in fact, about half of all communes have less than 500 inhabitants.
Citizens in France have always tended to care a great deal about local politics and local democracy. Compare this to what is happening in Ireland. The Local Government Reform Act 2014 almost halved the number of councillors in this country and scrapped all 80 town councils.
Now the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is supporting proposals which effectively mean the abolition of Cork City Council. – Yours, etc,
PAT McMAHON,
Salthill,
Galway.