Letters to the Editor: Public service over self-service

A reader wonders if Michael Healy-Rae TD has enough time to devote to An Post's plans to close its unit in Listowel

Michael Healy-Rae TD is also a postmaster, farmer, and service station owner, and has a business interest in plant hire. File picture: Dan Linehan

Elaine Loughlin is not wrong when she quotes Cathal O’Donoghue as saying: “Rural Ireland is full of sophisticated, articulate people, highly connected both to the local place and globally, and with a multi-layered cultural richness” [Forum, ‘Rural party cannot be all things to all country people’, June 10].

It’s easy to be against something. It’s much more difficult to propose answers or policies and articulate them to a wider audience. With the possible exception of Michael Fitzmaurice, many TDs that claim to have “rural Ireland” at heart are just a pot-pourri of different characters eager to see which way the wind is blowing and making lots of noise in the process.