(This article was published in The Irish Times on February 25th, 2004).
The Irish Times is a great newspaper. Its authority as “the paper of record”, is self-confidently expressed and, in fairness, usually deserved.
However the opening sentence of the editorial “A good ruling for politics” of 21st February makes a significant dent in that claim. It also clarifies for me why local government has been the one big gap in news coverage in this fine newspaper. Quite clearly, the editorial writer at least, knows little if anything about how Local Government functions, or more accurately, is not allowed to function in this country. How else can anyone explain the oxymoron of a sentence “The Coalition Government’s plan for the reform of local government…”