Sir, – Frank McDonald's article on Waterford (Home News, February 17th), highlighted the inadequacy of current local government reform, as a large part of Waterford city and its catchment is in Co Kilkenny.
This applies even more strongly to Limerick, where Clare has a direct impact and Shannon is a recognised adjunct to the city, and this makes the regeneration of Limerick much more problematic as it draws development out of the city.
The other merger of North and South Tipperary makes no sense as North Tipperary is the Limerick city catchment and South Tipperary is the Waterford catchment.
We need regional governance, which can be put in place while retaining our historic county structure. Regional governance would be able to provide the full range of expert services, which many smaller counties cannot provide, indeed many central department services could be decentralised to the regions, as recommended by Barrington, rather than the problematic decentralisation undertaken in recent years.
In relation to Limerick and Waterford, the Mid West Region should comprise Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary and the South East, Waterford, Kilkenny, Wexford and South Tipperary and Carlow. – Yours, etc,
JAMES PIKE FRIAI,
O’Mahony Pike Architects,
Mount St Anne’s,
Milltown, Dublin 6.