BRIAN T. WALSH,
Sir, - Ena Keye (December 27th) describes very well the appalling state of the Dodder river and the lack of effective action from the Government and local councils.
The adjoining Bushy Park has also been vandalised with the destruction of the boundary wall and trees alongside Our Lady's school grounds where a residential development is taking place.
The main fault does not lie with the developers but with the county council and Dublin Corporation which approved the demolition - a quite outrageous breach of trust on behalf of the many citizens who use this splendid park.
Apart from Mary Upton (Labour) and Gay Mitchell (Fine Gael) there has been a deafening silence from local representatives. Perhaps they will realise that action will be expected by their constituents or voting patterns could be significantly altered in the next election. - Yours, etc.,
BRIAN T. WALSH,
Rathdown Park,
Terenure,
Dublin 6. ...
... ... * ... * ... * ... ...
Sir, - Your New Year's Eve report by Tim O'Brien on the squalor on the Dodder again exemplifies the gutless incompetence of Irish officialdom on the "burning issue" that "will eventually explode" (Bobby Molloy, Minister for State for the Environment) - the plight of our Traveller citizenry.
The recipe is still to blame the victim for the problem. South Dublin County Council claims the Travellers are "reinforcing the prejudice of the settled community", while Olivia Mitchell is quoted as publishing a "new document aimed at making it easier for local authorities to get travellers to move on".
Is it not incumbent on those of us who have received the benefits of 20th-century education and the advantages of membership of the dominant landholding population to look a little closer at the story? Is it socially responsible to dump the detritus of our squanderlust on these marginalised, dispossessed families so that, after a rudimentary scavenge for scrap, they can carry the can for not disposing of our post-consumption durables?
Some say the Tiger may be mortally wounded, but Ye Olde Celtic Ostrich is up and running round with its head firmly planted where it can squint away righteously through its navel. - Yours, etc.,
DAMIEN FLINTER,
Clifden,
Co Galway.