Sir, - Recently there have been discussions about the approval of plans to build luxury flats and to knock down the Dalkey Island Hotel. This is a horrible idea because the whole area will become private and Dubliners will no longer have the opportunity of going to the only pub in the town really facing the sea. Besides this, the Dalkey Island Hotel is an old hotel, with wooden liberty furniture inside and a comfortable and quiet atmosphere.
We are Italian. My friend is a software engineer who has been working here for three years and I am a teacher. We love Ireland, and we are writing this because we hope that in this country the coast will not be destroyed because of short-sighted and unpopular investments, as happened in Italy in the past. In fact, the economic boom which is now a reality in Ireland and the thirst for business and money could change the face of the city. In every part of Dublin historic buildings are not being preserved and with them also the way of life of the citizens. Unfortunately, besides Dalkey hotel a lot of old pubs have been destroyed. We hope that this short letter can have the result of saving for the present and next generation this old and beautiful hotel and above all, its pub facing on to the sea. - Yours, etc., ANITA BRUNO and ALBERTO LONGATO,
Via Monte Buono, Roma.