A chara, - The people of the West of Ireland, together with the rest of the electorate in the 26 Counties, are being asked by this Government to vote for the Treaty of Nice in a referendum on June 7th.
While Dublin and some other areas may have benefited from improved infrastructure and resulting investment in jobs, we are still far behind here in Mayo. If implemented, the Treaty of Nice recommendations will allow the European project to move on and we will have to argue our case in a scenario where the Government has less influence in Europe.
For the western region to catch up in terms of road, rail, telecommunications and fibreoptic infrastructure and be able to offer business the opportunity to compete, and people the same equality of opportunity as elsewhere, there needs to be massive Government investment.
The further centralisation of power in the hands of the larger EU states and the increased influence that these same states will have on the overall budget will place severe restrictions on the capital expenditure that we badly need in the west. If Charlie McCreevy can be sanctioned by the EU for what are relatively minor taxation measures, then what chance a government that had a significant social spending programme? - Is mise,
Vincent Wood, Newtown, Claremorris, Co Mayo.