Comments on
decentralisation blasted as ‘insulting’
by Liam Porter, Inishowen
Independent
THE comments of a leading economist who compared the
Government’s decentralisation plan to a similar one
in Burma where civil servants were sent “to the
jungle,” have been blasted as ‘insulting’ by Andrew
Ward of Inishowen Development Partnership.
Speaking at an Institute of Public Administration’s
(IPA) National Conference in Dublin last week,
Professor John Fitzgerald is reported to have
compared Ireland’s decentralisation plans to those
in the dictatorship-controlled country of Burma but
told the conference it had failed there.
“They tried this in Burma where they sent all civil
servants out to the jungle and look at Burma. It
cannot work where you split up and send people
around the place. We cannot run policy in a way
where you are getting rid of the people who are
experts,” Professor Fitzgerald is quoted as saying.
However Mr Ward told the Inishowen Independent this
week that the comments were completely over the top
and typical of a mindset in Dublin that seemed to
think everything must be located within 'The Pale'.
“Ireland is a small country and it really does
beggar belief that there are people who seem to
think that decisions can only be made in central
Dublin.”
While the government has suspended the roll-out of
the decentralisation programme across much of the
country, work is ongoing at the new offices in
Buncrana which are expected to be opened within the
next few months.
According to Andrew Ward the comments made by
Professor Fitzgerald were similar to the kind of
attitudes expressed last year when moves were being
made to shut down the Coast Guard service at Malin
Head.
“At that time too they wanted to move the station
away from a perfect location on the coast and some
of the reasons being put forward were nothing short
of madness. The reality is that here in Inishowen we
are beside the fourth largest city on this island
and we have a lot going for us.”
He suggested that comparing the moving of
Dublin-based civil servants out of the capital to
moving civil servants into the jungle in Burma, was
insulting.
“While there is no doubt that the government could
have handled how civil servants were informed of the
decentralisation plan much better, there is no
reason whatsoever to suggest that in a small country
like ours people cannot move out of Dublin and do a
good job. It’s a typical over the top and ridiculous
kind of argument that people from rural areas have
come to expect from those based in Dublin,” he
concluded. |
