Every cut made by councils will hit somebody, somewhere

Whether its turning off street lights or less cleaning hours, all cuts will be felt, says Caroline O’Doherty

SCHOOL children dismayed and tourism operators sighed, but for some local authorities, the wearily wet summer of 2012 was a blessing in disguise.

“We had a significant reduction in the amount of gorse fires in the county. As a result, money we had budgeted for gorse fire activity wasn’t spent,” Kerry County Council told the Irish Examiner, delighted to be able to see a silver lining of around €50,000 in unspent funds in the dark cloud of the county’s finances.