Sir, – Pat McMahon (September 21st) bemoans the culling of local councillors that occurred in Ireland in the wake of the Local Government Reform Act and compares the situation unfavourably to that in France. However, he omits to say that in France local councillors in the various communes are not paid whereas their Irish counterparts "earn" a minimum of €16,000 a year in addition to a very generous expenses regime. We might all be more inclined to support local democracy if it wasn't so expensive. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN McMAHON,
Naas, Co Kildare.