Let’s tell politicians what we really want

YOU published letters (December 30) refuting any criticism of the public sector in one case and your suggestions concerning the actions of Cork County Council with regard to gritting of icy roads in another.

The reason for the extreme version of the international financial crisis that Ireland has undergone was a lack of structures and procedures which might provide us with a better system of governance, including regulations subject to careful monitoring and sanctions for those who decide to ignore them. This won’t happen unless ordinary citizens go to their politicians and demand a fairer national system instead of asking for personal favours for themselves (Please sir, I want a hospital, my road tarred, a visa for my daughter’s foreign fiancé, whatever). Our TDs are very willing to oblige their constituents where they can – after all that is why people vote for them. We are just asking them for the wrong things.

My new year’s resolution is to contact every politician in my area with a list of what I want changed so that Ireland’s two sectors – public and private – can be run equitably for the common good.