Sir, - Further to the letter from John Richardson Dawes (August 29th), it does not take visitors to highlight the embarrrassing inadequacies of Irish roads. As an ex-pat who returns annually to Ireland and rents a car, I always notice a distinct lack of speed-limit signs in both rural and urban zones. When the rare speed-limits signs are to be seen, they can either be in miles per hour or kilometres per hour! Furthermore, it seems to be taboo in Ireland to have overhead signs, as is common done in other countries. Instead, one must look for inadequate roadside signs, often unreadable because of dust and mud, or obstructed by a truck or bus. So one must keep driving, probably on a wrong lane, on a wrong road, to a wrong destination. I rate myself as a careful and considerate driver, but Irish roads can turn a saint into a demon. Mr Dawes says Irish roads are engineered to be dangerous; I would say they are engineered to be downright fatal. - Yours, etc.,
Niall O'Donoghue, Narva, Finland.