Ahern makes a clean sweep of legislation well past sell-by date

IT may have been an important campaigning piece of legislation way back when, but the 1875 Chimney Sweepers Act has apparently run its course.

The act which banned the slave-like practice of sending young boys up chimneys to scrub them clean is one of 100 or so that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern now reckons we can do without.

Announcing the start of a new public consultation process on the proposed repeal of more than 100 pieces of legislation yesterday, Mr Ahern was enjoying the irony of a measure aimed at scrapping laws instead of making them for a change.