The National Roads Authority (NRA) has taken down this sign in Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare, because it is non-standard. The same sign is being used by Fáilte Ireland (the tourist board) to market the country and the area.
Is it any wonder we are in the mess we're in.
Fintan O'Toole has pointed out the lack of joined up thinking among our authorities and also the lack of respect for local involvement and preferences in our system of governance.
Clearly, what was required here was the capacity for the authorities to exercise discretion when applying national norms to allow them to respect local culture.
But this is a Catch 22 dilemma in clientist Ireland. On the basis of past experience, such discretion would be used by the authorities to wreck the country. We have already seen the number of local authority planning decisions which have had to be overruled by the national planning authority, particularly in the West of Ireland.
Ballyvaughan is a beautiful place, with its own pace and serenity. It is a place to stop in and not just to speed through.
What price a motorway? Oh, I forgot, we can't afford it. Shame!
Sometimes you just despair.
ReplyDeleteI hope they retrieve it and reinstall it - then honour will have been satisfied all round. Sign removed. Sign back up.
Job done.
Oh the fools ...
ReplyDeleteIt's a marvellous sign. I believe I saw it in situ. But I might be confusing it with a couple of others that were almost as multi-faceted. No doubt they're gone now too ...