Sir, – As a regular visitor to Ireland I have often been tempted to contact Fáilte Ireland with respect to a serious and widespread weakness in your provision for tourists, particularly those who are elderly.
Your report regarding the closure of public conveniences in Dublin is dismaying and confirms an impression I have obtained from visiting many Irish towns. Though there are exceptions (eg Tipperary, Cahir), many seem either to lack public conveniences or, if they have them, fail to mention them on town centre notices where a tourist would seek that information. The visitor then has to resort to the embarrassing situation of asking strangers in the street for directions (as I have had to recently in Roscrea).
If more tourism is so desirable, particularly for older visitors who can travel throughout the year, it surely is a relatively cheap resource to provide properly supervised toilets, which are signposted (and not unreliable automatic cubicles as, for instance, in Ennis).
It is certainly a false economy to reduce even further the already inadequate facilities for visitors to Dublin. - Yours, etc,