A chara - I was appalled on a recent visit to my native Mountcharles in Co Donegal to witness the destruction of the sand dunes in Mountcharles and Inver.
The main cause of this destruction is the practice of overwintering large numbers of cattle, which leads to the disappearance of the protective grasses. I believe from sources that this trend evident in Mountcharles and Inver is being repeated right around the country.
This is a habitat that has taken thousands of years to form and is now being destroyed in the virtual blinking of an eye. This degradation of our environment needs to be halted immediately.
The Department of Marine and Natural Resources is only interested in helping to preserve large-scale sand dunes; I believe that this is a mistaken policy as the drip, drip effect of small scale sand dunes disappearing has large scale implications for our coastline.
I would like to call on the Department of Marine and Natural Resources to develop as a matter of urgency a policy which (a) preserves all sand dunes irrespective of size and (b) ensures that the public have appropriate levels of access to them.
When I was growing up in Mountcharles access to the sand dunes enriched my life considerable and I sincerely hope that future generations have the same opportunity. - Is mise,
Paul McGovern, Minneapolis, USA.