Sir, - I read with interest the views of Anne O'Flaherty (March 23rd) concerning the litter problem in Dublin. However I don't think that this can be categorised as another problem for Noel Dempsey or any Government official.
The fact is that a large minority - or maybe even the majority - of the people in this country regard all public areas as a sort of communal rubbish dump and are totally indifferent to the problem. Even those who trouble to complain in public about the situation usually refer to its effect on tourists, implying that only wimpish foreigners care about rubbish and that sturdy Irish citizens are perfectly content to wade knee-deep through drifts of litter and skate on lumps of dog dirt.
The provision of adequate litter bins might help a bit but probably only marginally. Severe fines for littering, encouragement (probably financial) for recycling and a rethink about the ridiculous overproduction of packaging would be better. At present the only place one can avoid litter in this country is above the 1,500-foot contour line. And please don't regard that last sentence as a challenge! - Yours, etc., Patrick Dunne,
Millmount Avenue, Drumcondra, Dublin 9.