Lack of play areas must be addressed

Sir, - Una Mullally rightly critiques the dearth of play areas in Dublin’s inner city (“Why does it take Kellie Harrington and Troy Parrott to say children need places to play?,” Opinion, February 23rd). However, as is her wont, she reflexively blames the State.

This is a local issue that should be funded locally. Dublin City Council could easily provide these amenities if local representatives had the courage to maintain the property tax at its basic or increased rate rather than appealing to populism through a 15 per cent cut, as was done for many years.

Why do commentators cry out for directly elected mayors while ignoring the fact that current local representatives so often resile from actual local work?

Our representatives have a storied history of weighing in on matters of foreign affairs, but perhaps it is time they “stuck to their knitting” and focused on the swings and roundabouts of the North Circular Road instead of the geopolitics of the North Atlantic or Middle East. - Yours, etc,