The End

This blog has been going for four years, and as just about any blogger will tell you, it wasn't meant to last this long.

For most of those four years, blogging has been a source of endless fascination, but I have felt for some time that it is time to move on, and earlier this year I set the general election as a target. That and the surprise change of administration on Carmarthenshire County Council seem to be as good a time as any to bring the blog to a close.

Whether the blog made any difference, I don't know, but I have tried to highlight some injustices and the dire state of local democracy in Carmarthenshire.

Earlier this year a large group of people gathered for the unveiling of a plaque in Llangennech recalling the life and work of Eileen Beasley. Eileen took on local government stupidity and obstinacy and eventually won, and it is perhaps no coincidence that this blog has regularly featured several other Carmarthenshire women, each very different, who have paid a high price for their bravery and determination.

Delyth Jenkins and the other whistleblowers deserve our support because any of us could one day end up being victims of the abuse that they have been fighting to expose.

A very different case has been that of Trisha Breckman and her partner. Trisha is a formidable fighter, and she has been subjected to harassment, humiliation and injustice on a frightening scale. Her fight is still going on, but there is hope that at last a corner may be about to be turned. In the final analysis her campaign is about making sure that we live by the rule of law, and that the law has to be applied without fear or favour.

Someone else who is hardly flavour of the month in County Hall is Cllr Siân Caiach, a full fledged member of the Awkward Squad if ever there was. Whether you agree with her or not, she is always worth listening to.


And finally, there is Jacqui Thompson. Jacqui was the victim of a miscarriage of justice, and perhaps one day the truth will come out about how this case was manipulated. The real Jacqui Thompson is about as far from the mythical beast created by County Hall as you can get.


Another frequent theme of this blog has been press freedom. The arrival on the scene of the Carmarthenshire Herald and its sister paper in Llanelli is a very positive development, and although the additional competition may feel painful to existing local titles, it will result in a much livelier local press and perhaps turn the tide of declining readership of local papers.

Welsh blogging has suffered some notable losses in the last few years, but there are plenty of first class writers out there covering all sorts of different subjects. In English the gold standards are Carmarthenshire Planning Problems and More, Old Grumpy, Jacob Williams, Jac o' the North, Oggy Bloggy Ogwr and Borthlas, who always has some eminently sensible observations to make on politics. John Dixon is a real loss to Welsh politics, and I hope he can be persuaded to take the plunge again.

Even more encouraging is the range and standard of blogs in Welsh, with some truly brilliant writing.  BlogMenai, Yr Hogyn o Rachub and Glyn Adda are particular favourites, and Cai Larsen's reporting and analysis of Irish politics is a uniquely valuable contribution.

Bloggers are often regarded as the poor cousins of "real" journalism, but these three, all very different, are often at least as good as any of the highly paid Fleet Street columnists.

But it's not all politics, and other favourites include Lowri Cooke Haf on film, television and the arts, while for anyone interested in gardening there is the beautiful and often lyrical Ar Asgwrn y Graig.

So a new chapter is about to begin, and it's time to tackle another project which has been simmering away on the backburner for too long.

Many thanks to all you readers and contributors, even the hostile ones.

Diolch yn fawr i bob un ohonoch chi.