Sir, – Cllr Maeve O'Connell (Letters August 13th) and others ask where is local democracy in relation to cycleways.
Our local democracy has been consistently dismantled by a succession of local government ministers, culminating in its virtual destruction by former minister Phil Hogan, aided and abetted by the then-tánaiste and leader of my own party. That policy agenda has been assisted by a deplorable lack of knowledge in the media regarding our local government system. Until those of who believe in local government and the principle of subsidiarity contained in the EU treaties fight back, the centralisation of our governmental system will continue, and housing, transport, environmental and other problems will grow. – Yours, etc,
Cllr DERMOT LACEY,
(Labour),
Donnybrook, Dublin 4.