nteresting letter from Tom Byrne of Byrne O’Donnell Scully Architects and Architectural Technicians in Ennis, County Clare, who says that in 1999, out of total frustration with how the planning system was working, he and some colleagues set up the ALG (Agents Liaison Group) so that private practitioners and council officials could meet from time to time to iron out problems and ensure a more efficient planning application system. It was, Tom tells me, lauded by the Minister of the time (Noel Dempsey, I think) as a ‘model’ to be copied elsewhere. But, Tom continues.