Rossport body-blow to our democracy

LAST Tuesday will surely be remembered as a day when what passes for democracy in Ireland was once more revealed as a web of corruption.

I’m not referring to the Dáil shenanigans, but to the disgraceful scenes in Rossport, Co Mayo, where Shell Ireland and the gardaí connived to deliver their own body-blow to democracy and the will of the people.

Noam Chomsky recently alluded to the development in Latin America of a vibrant array of popular movements that “provide the basis for a meaningful democracy”.

According to Chomsky, the citizens of these countries have expressed increasing disillusionment with government institutions and have “sought to construct democratic systems based on popular participation rather than elite and foreign domination”.

Forget Boston, forget Berlin. There’s so much more to learn from La Paz.

Dominic Carroll

Ardfield

Clonakilty

Co Cork