KELLY COYLE,
Madam, - On my first visit to Ireland from New Zealand, six years ago, I not only fell in love with one of your charming Irishmen but also with the country, the people and the craic. For the five years that I have lived here I have wholeheartedly embraced the culture.
So, yes this is a great country and in my experience, friendly and welcoming but during these short few years I have seen some changes and my passion for Ireland is fast dissolving - a fact that I can't even blame on the weather.
I just feel done at every turn lately: €4.00 for a pint in Dublin; €2.20 per hour to park in the visitors' car park at Tallaght Hospital; and yesterday I stood jam-packed shoulder to shoulder with 16 other people in the lobby of the first carriage on the 17.48 train from Tara Street to Balbriggan, although admittedly, I did find a free seat as we drew close to Donabate.
There are so many small points like these that add up to a future for me in Ireland that appears bleak.
How lucky I am that I can take my Irish husband to somewhere where we can actually afford to buy a house.
But how sad I am to see the Dublin I loved turn into a money draining, commuter hell. No wonder the Irish welcome is hard to find these days (as often noted in these letters), I guess the natives just feel done too.
Yours, etc.,
KELLY COYLE, Highfield Road, Rathgar, Dublin 6.