Negative report of rural planning guidelines

AS A Fianna Fáil councillor, I was disappointed with your coverage (Irish Examiner, March 5) of the new rural housing planning guidelines announced by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Martin Cullen.

The day after Mr Cullen's announcement, the front page ran with the headline "FF accused of rural housing stunt," and sought to discredit the announcement by stating it came "as a welcome distraction from the sleaze allegations against Fianna Fáil in the Mahon tribunal."

The article, and the further coverage on an inside page, made a story out of the timing of the announcement, coming as it did before the party's árd fheis last weekend.