Shannon Water for Dublin?

Dublin and the East Coast is hyper developed when you consider that the 2 largest cities outside of Dublin are not connected with a motorway between them.

Ireland for such a small place is too centralised with no power being devolved to the provinces.

That's because Dublin is a top tourist attraction. Americans want to see the capital, then it's a very short trip (by American standards) to Mayo. People don't want to fly in to Shannon, they want to fly in to Dublin, that's where the business is and it's the cultural epicentre of the country.

Busman didn't put those links up, but anyway, no, if you read back on my posts I said that the cities support the hinterlands in Ireland. Cork is no exception, a powerhouse supporting the region. Cork County and Dublin are exceptional for business and generating money.

I've stated multiple times that the M20 is an essential piece of infrastructure, but that changes nothing in relation to the poor return Dubliners get on their taxes.

That sort of stuff goes down well with a certain audience unfortunately, and the whole country suffers as a result.

That's good work and fair play to you for going the extra mile to follow that up.

Without the requisite data we too must ignore simple claims that Dublin gets everything, and the country outside the M50 suffers.

Nobody other than a few begrudging cranks are going to complain about supplying water to half the population. Of course it got cabinet approval, we've being trying to tell you this for throughout the thread, even your own survey told you that.

Agreed, we need a swing city. A counteracting economic & cultural hub. However this thread was set up to discuss the success of Shannon water to the East.

The counties mentioned to you numerous times still need water and it will come from the Shannon.

Absolutely the Shannon needs to be protected and looked after. It's a jewel of the nation and the nation will look after it & be responsible for it. There are already lots of eyes on the river, the Shannon Flood Risk State Agency Co-ordination Working Group comes under the chairmanship of the OPW in Dublin. Its members are at Chief Executive Officer level or equivalent, representing the following State Agencies: OPW, ESB, IFI, DHLGH, Bord na Móna, EPA, Irish Water and Local Authorities, represented by the CCMA Waterways Ireland, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, so lots of agencies looking after the Shannon.

A maximum of 2% of the average flow will be extracted from a river that's currently overflowing and flooding houses every year.

We can certainly agree on the importance of the Shannon.

Over the years the proliferation of agencies you mention has often proved more of a hindrance than a help.

My point though was that the involvement of various interests, local communities, environmental groups etc. in the abstraction process is to be welcomed not dismissed.

You probably know that the volumes proposed for abstraction will have no effect on flooding.

Involving some environmental groups would be OK. Local communities, not too sure about that one. Could turn into a series of groups looking for cash.