Sir, – Brendan Quinn (August 4th) sums up many of the challenges faced by the west of Ireland when he says of the "rail versus trail" debate that doing nothing is the preferred option for politicians and decision-makers in the west of Ireland. This "politics of stagnation"approach is at the root of most of the problems in this region; there is no big external conspiracy designed to drag us down, we do it very well ourselves.
The debate on the Western Rail Corridor/Western Rail Trail represents a perfect microcosm of western politics. The dogs in the fields know that nobody is going to build a railway that is doomed to fail before a sleeper is laid; government has hopefully learned that expensive lesson from the Ennis-Athenry debacle. Equally, anyone who understands the economic benefits of rural tourism will know that long-distance walking and cycling tourism is a fast-growing and very profitable industry that delivers jobs and opportunities directly to rural communities, and that conversion of disused rail lines for tourism and amenity has proved positive elsewhere.
Yet the preferred option in the west of Ireland is to do nothing, to allow squatters to gradually take over state-owned assets while promising undeliverable trains.
Meanwhile, the most important piece of infrastructure around here is the road to Knock Airport; it allows all our young people to leave, to go where they are wanted.
And as for the short-sighted politicians presiding over the decline, they at least have the consolation of knowing that doing nothing has served them well so far, and indeed that the squatters can always be relied on for a vote. – Yours, etc,
JOHN MULLIGAN,
Boyle,
Co Roscommon.
Sir, – Brendan Quin provides a view of the utility of rail which, if applied to roads, would see him delight in either walking or taking a donkey and cart to travel outside Sligo. Factual information on the social and economic advantages of good air, road and rail transport infrastructure is freely available. There is no justification for ill-informed views that perpetuate the imbalanced social and economic development which Ireland has suffered since independence, particularly in the region where Mr Quinn resides. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN FLANAGAN,
Inishowen,
Co Donegal.