I have been going to Malta every year for over 20 years. On travelling to Valletta I was shocked, horrified and disgusted to see that the main gate to the city had been removed. I had known that there were plans for major works for this area but did not understand that part of Malta’s wonderful built heritage was going to be torn down! How could you?

For a country that has a proud and extensive history spanning millennia and that has tourism as one of its major economic facets, I find it hard to understand the rationale behind this decision.

I spent the week asking Maltese people in restaurants, bars, shops and attractions that I visited for their view on the removal of City Gate.

To a man and woman they utterly condemned it!

I wonder, do the ordinary people suffer, as we do in Ireland, from gutless self-seeking politicians and faceless and unaccountable bureaucrats that enable them to make decisions like this?