Madam, - As a Waterford native myself, I would invite Gerry Halley (January 4th) to reflect again upon his uncritical acclaim of the beleaguered Minister for Transport. This is myopic localism at its most misplaced and typifies that tradition in Irish politics that always puts the national interest well to the rear of the parish pump.
Mr Cullen's appalling record of poor public service to the State as a Minister is what disqualifies him from office irrespective of his perceived "delivery" at local level. Even in his own bailiwick, his contemptuous dismissal of the importance of the Woodstown Viking site and his wish to abolish the ceiling on corporate donations to politicians (as well as being himself the highest national recipient of such donations) place him firmly as acting in the interests of developers and vested interests rather than representing the community at large.
For someone who has squandered €50 million of our money on the e-voting fiasco (without a trace of humility) to be placed in charge of transport infrastructure is a truly appalling vista and one that makes me wish Mr Cullen had never left Waterford! - Yours, etc.,
R.M. McCARTHY, De Courcy Square, Glasnevin, Dublin 9.