Ms Joan Martin:

My biggest priority day-to-day is probably the financial survival of the council. We are not any different but Louth County Council has a lot of vision and lots of long-term plans. We have major long-term plans for cycling. My husband described me the other night as a "pragmatist". I do not know if this is complimentary coming from a husband, but that is what I am. Realistically, the pragmatist would tell the committee that there is a vision, but, as the chief executive, I know that I will not see all of it delivered. While I am there, I will deliver. I might not deliver the bit that the Deputy is looking for. I might deliver the bit that another Deputy is looking for and then Deputy Chambers might not be happy, but we are always striving to deliver. We never lose an opportunity. There were announcements this week on the funding for towns and villages. In my county, a number of those applications, which were made in collaboration with communities, were for footpaths of the kind Deputy Chambers has mentioned, which link bits of missing footpaths and so on. The effort is made on every occasion and we take every chance we can. It is just that there is always so much to be done and only so many resources to do it, be they financial or otherwise. Most councils have long-term visions for measures such as cycleways and I want to extend it in my county from the Border at Carlingford Lough all the way to the border with County Meath at Drogheda. This, however, will take-----