There is little point, however, in the Government providing services in rural areas if planners dictate that people cannot live there, if businesses will not look beyond the Pale for new start-up options, if developers only think of higher profit margins in the cities and if investors refuse to take a risk on rural based enterprises. As the old saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink." We would want to be careful that the well does not dry up while waiting for the horse to drink. It is time for everyone in the country, urban and rural, to see the common position and realise the development of rural Ireland would also benefit urban Ireland.