Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy has raised a major issue. It is amazing how people can be given a certain colouring by popular perception. Many people perceive me as being essentially rural and rurally biased. However, all my formative years were spent in Dublin. When asked where the greatest crisis is, in terms of community, lifestyle and planning, I have said time and again that it is in the cities. Last night, when I met the Council for the West, I agreed that there are unquestionably problems in the west but I also asked if the council knew many people from the rural west who, of their free volition, would move tomorrow to live in one of the RAPID areas. I mean no disrespect to the people in those areas but disadvantages would accrue. When I challenge people on that point, and I have said this in meetings throughout the country, they will immediately accept it. One of the reasons that rural Ireland is worth fighting for is that it is a great place to live if one is lucky enough to have a job.

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