The national spatial strategy initially appeared to offer a lifeline to rural development, but it is nothing more than a headline-grabbing exercise and another under-resourced white elephant. The midlands triangle of Mullingar, Athlone and Tullamore does not even have a decent road connecting the three towns and the National Roads Authority says no funds are available to develop secondary routes. New motorways to serve some of the strategy's hubs have been shelved by the Minister for Transport for a further three years. The Government is attempting to buy time, but what time is available to rural communities?