Sir, - I would have thought that Gay Mitchell (February 4th) would have learned to "stop digging" with regard to what Pat Hickey (President of the Olympic Council of Ireland) referred to recently as "a lunatic proposal [in 1992] for Dublin to make a bid for the Olympics". Yet he continues with his waffle that "reports of specialist committees...stated that Dublin could make a credible Olympic bid". Not only that, but he attacks all those who dare disagree with him for having "no research, only opinions informed by human prejudice".
Mr Mitchell is being a bit disingenuous. His self-appointed Dublin International Sports Council's (DISC) final report stated that "Dublin can make a credible Olympic bid". But when one reads the report in full, it is clear that unless certain conditions were met, the city could not make a credible bid! Among the items referred to were the lack of stadiums, the use of the Grand Canal Docks and Promenade Road areas as sites for the Olympic Village, the lack of 50-metre swimming pools (four were required!), diving pools and velodromes, and the need to avoid "white elephants".
While the Dublin Olympic idea was risible, at least DISC, under the guidance of Jonathan Irwin and others, has evolved and has made a valuable ongoing contribution to sport in Ireland. However, Mr Mitchell's so-called "vision", and his pejorative remarks about those who scoffed at his self-serving publicity stunt when he was Lord Mayor of Dublin, should be quietly buried in the hole that he is determined to dig for himself. - Yours, etc.,
Barry McHugh, Stoney Road, Dublin 14.