Government wants to close down rural Ireland

Sincere thanks to the Irish Examiner on the piece on the serious decline of rural Ireland as illustrated in the article on the parish of Tournafulla.

The situation in Tournafulla is replicated throughout rural Ireland as a result of decades of neglect by various governments. Rural Ireland would have long ago disappeared under an ocean of coniferous trees only for the intervention of the European Union 20 years ago in the form of the LEADER programmes.

This European programme for the first time gave rural communities the opportunity to develop their own areas and do things for themselves. They availed of this opportunity and in doing so saved much of rural Ireland from fatal decline.