JOHN F. FALLON,
Sir, - The Labour Party, amazingly, proposes two extra public holidays in the year if it is in government.
Whose interests are best served by this proposal? One has only to look at the paper after a "long" weekend to read of the resultant havoc - road deaths, house fires, "joy-riding". Of all the lavish promises made in this election, this one must rate the most superfluous.
Health is a major election issue. Surely there is a link between the need for hospital and medical treatment and the alcohol consumption that is part of the public holiday scene. Every teacher will tell you how hard it is to get pupils back to work after a bank holiday weekend. People have an entitlement to leisure as a basic right, but how do extra public holidays, with all the disruption entailed, add to the sum of happiness for the masses? Why not instead add extra days to the workers' annual leave? - Yours, etc.,
JOHN F. FALLON,
Boyle,
Co Roscommon.
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Sir, - On bank holiday Monday morning, Moate's near-deserted streets once again displayed ample evidence of the weekend revellers who hunger and thirst in the hours of darkness, leaving behind the detritus of the pubs and take-aways they had frequented.
Where were the litter wardens and the guardians of law and order to save us from this violence against society, when bottles, beer cans, plastic cutlery, food containers, wrappers and an assorted mountain of waste paper were gleefully discarded on our streets and footpaths?
In all their manifestos and point-scoring, have any of the election parties said anything about this despoliation of the country, and the scandal it presents for those of us who still have some scintilla of pride in our own place, and to those from abroad, who are optimistic enough to visit our shores, and expect to see the Ireland of Bórd Fáilte brochures?
Is there really any point in passing a litter law if it is not vigorously implemented, and our streets continue to bear witness to the onslaught of the despoilers, who know very well they will not be prosecuted? - Yours, etc.,
VERA HUGHES,
Moate,
Co Westmeath.