Deputy Carty TD was widely reported in the local media as supporting broadband for Ballinrobe. A correspondent here somewhere suggested that we email him to encourage him.

Living a few miles outside Ballinrobe I did just that - with some difficulty.

I sent a message via the Fianna Fail website, which was the only available link provided on the Dail.ie webpage to John Carty our local FF TD. I voiced my concern about the lack of broadband in rural once-off houses such as the one I live in a few miles from Ballinrobe.

I was struck first of all by the fact that Deputy Carty had neither a link to a web page nor an email address on the dail web page. For a man so concerned about broadband Internet access for Mayo it seemed particularly bizarre that I couldn't easily find his email address.

I sent the email of support but with a question regarding what the prospects of reasonable cost rural bandwidth were about a week or more ago and I am surprised that in fact of the auto-promise-reply that 'Fianna Fail' (i.e. not John Carty TD himself as he appears to have no web or email presence apart from the official FF form) would endeavour to answer my email asap I have not received a reply.

Why do I get the feeling that our local TDs are just issuing press releases at random in response to whatever happens to be in the news on a day to day basis?

It's becoming obvious to everyone that people living in one-off houses are never going to get real broadband at anything approaching a reasonable price, ditto for proper water supply, sewage treatment, footpaths, shops, schools, jobs within reasonable distance, nightmare commutes, etc.

Local papers - who publish these press releases on a regular basis please copy!!