Sir, - I had to re-check the date of The Irish Times I was reading on Tuesday to make sure it was not an old one from April 1st. But no, it was May 16th and the economist Colm McCarthy was suggesting that St Anne's Park in Raheny is a waste of space that should be given over forthwith to the building of much-needed houses.
Yes, Colm , of course all that horrid greenness should be concreted over and dozens, nay, hundreds of houses built there. Why not go the whole hod (sic) and go high-rise, thereby making maximum use of the space, and putting hundreds more cars onto the already clogged road into the city centre each day, as well as scores more commuters squashing onto the stuffed buses and groaning DART. That will solve the problem for those living further afield - won't it?
There really is no need, in these thrusting times, for trees, grass, flowers or fresh air, to say nothing of such idle pursuits as playing football and hurling, walking, cycling (where children will not be knocked down by cars). No, it's time that St Anne's was done away with entirely. After that, we can have a go at the vastly under-used Phoenix Park and even St Stephen's Green (which, after all, is used only in the daytime and attracts undesirables even then). - Yours, etc., Eanna Brophy,
Bettyglen, Raheny, Dublin 5.