Sir, - Brian Crowley (September 18th) is right to point to "the disgraceful state of the Grand Canal in south Dublin between districts 2 and 4". It is not only the banks that are "full of miscellaneous rubbish from shopping trolleys to hamburger packaging"; the waterway contains such delights as used nappies, beer cans, trousers, traffic cones and, of course, plastic bags. Many, many plastic bags.
In the Royal Canal there are entire suites of furniture to be found - not to mention footballs.
But waterways the Grand and the Royal still are: I travelled the Grand myself some months ago, through Dublin to the Liffey and out again to the Shannon. Transferring responsibility from Waterways Ireland to Dublin Corporation is not, I fear, likely to make much difference (although the two bodies do, I understand, co-operate). The detritus dispensed by the denizens of Dublin - or perhaps by some of those valued visitors - would defeat the efforts of an army.
Is there any point in trying to shame people into respecting the canals? - Yours, etc.,
Brian J. Goggin, Stradbally North, Castleconnell, Co Limerick.