Madam, - Almost every day in Northern Ireland we are greeted by depressing news headlines: "Factory to close, hundred lose jobs", "Water charges to be imposed", "Lollipop ladies to go", "Rural school shuts its doors", and so on.
Direct rule ministers, who fly in for a couple of days a week, continue to oversee and plan cuts in our services, particularly in healthcare and education, while local politicians, or at least some of them, refuse to do the job we elected them to do.
It is essential that our local assembly and executive are restored immediately. Every week that passes without local accountable government is costing all of us jobs, decent services, pennies and pounds. - Yours, etc,
PATRICK MURRAY, (Solicitor),
DANIEL JACK, (Community worker),
Prof JOHN McCLOSKEY, (Ulster University),
GERRY MURPHY, (INT0),
Belfast.