Port sale is yet another loss to ordinary people

IT is with regret I learned of the failed legal bids to stop the sale of Waterford Port (Northside) to private developers. Every time public property falls into private hands, something has been stolen from the ordinary people.

I find the sale of the port particularly upsetting as I have sailed into and out of it many times over the years. The port has a trade history going back 1,000 years or more. It will be missed by the fishermen in the southeast, who for generations have used it as a safe haven.

It seems as if the Government’s privatisation programme has been sped up dramatically ahead of a general election. Government ministers and civil servants are constantly promoting privatisation and public/private partnership while conveniently ignoring the obvious failures of privatisation, such as the telecom debacle or the long suffering motorists that use the Westlink toll bridge.