Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----which is ready to be enacted. Whatever is said, there is a tremendous tradition in that. People who were never members of a town council begrudged the Bill. I happen to have been an alderman of Wexford Corporation, a member of Wexford County Council, a Member of Seanad Éireann and a Member of Dáil Éireann, and there really was a respect for the town.

I will make one final comment in defence of town councils, in response to Deputy Ó Cuív. It is not true to say towns are exactly the same as rural areas. Wexford town is the focal point of all the hinterland of County Wexford. People want to go to the cinema, art galleries, public parks and big events such as the opening of the opera festival and so on in Wexford town. That is unique to the urban centre that drives and is the economic and cultural focal point of its hinterland, and it was a mistake to deprive it of its own council.