Sir, - I read with interest a report headed "Gardai found fertiliser in disused Howth fish shop" (The Irish Times, February 19th).
The report refers to evidence given to the Special Criminal Court the previous day and I quote: "Comdt Ted Shine, an explosives ordnance disposal officer, told the court he removed 28 bags containing 1,500 kgs of crushed fertiliser and five bags containing 250 kgs of fertiliser in granule form from the shop. He disposed of most of the fertiliser in the sea and kept several kilos for testing."
Presuming the report to be correct and that Comdt Shine was under oath, it means that almost 1.75 tons of calcium ammonium nitrate were dumped into the sea by him.
As an ex-fisherman who has seen the effect on the sea and on marine life of indiscriminate dumping at sea I was disgusted to read that the only method of disposal of 1.75 tons of fertiliser which could be employed by the Department of Defence was to "dispose of it at sea".
When will it be realised that the sea is not a dumping ground for unwanted substances? What chance is there of changing people's attitude to the use of the sea when a Government Department acts in such a manner? - Yours, etc., John Sheridan,
York Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.