Election pledges - Promises, promises...

WITH the election campaign hotting up, auction politics is now the name of the game.

As highlighted in these columns, the frenzied proliferation of voter-friendly policies underlines just how important it is for people to cast a cold eye on pledges from all parties.

This is borne out by our analysis of promises issued in the last local election campaign. Some 18 months later, it is beyond dispute that many of the key policies unwrapped barely a week before polling day have not been honoured.

This scenario has particular relevance in Dublin where Labour won control of the City Council and also in Cork city where Fine Gael now hold sway.

Some of the more enticing promises unveiled in a blaze of publicity have not materialised and are no longer visible in the proverbial pipeline.

This failure not only engenders cynicism among voters, it deprives them of tangible schemes designed to improve their communities.

Both Fine Gael and Labour blame red tape and central government’s failure to cede power at grassroots level.

They will soon have a chance to remedy that situation by honouring what it says on the tin.