Sir, - Your report on the demise of the North Inner City Folklore Project (Weekend, August 19th) illustrates the total lack of commitment by the heritage establishment to the rich cultural traditions of Dublin's inner city. Could it be the case that the folk history of the urban working-class communities recorded so ably by the archivist Terry Fagan is an embarrassment to those officially charged by the State to save these records?
Terry Fagan's sterling work deserves the highest honour with a dedicated urban folklore museum and resource centre in Dublin on a par with the "People's Palace" in Glasgow or the "Museum of Liverpool Life" on Merseyside. While I welcome the opening of the National Museum's Rural Folklife Centre at Castlebar (The Irish Times, August 21st), I believe it is about time that the directors of our National Museum realise that weaving a story from the "jungle of the city" is just as valid a case for record as basket-making on a mountainside if we are to represent the entire tapestry of Irish society. - Yours, etc.,
Ken McCue, Cultural Affairs Officer, Dublin Inner City Renaissance, Great Strand Street, Dublin 1.