Madam, - Fintan O'Toole is right to criticise politicians for the cynical way they have "demonised" the environmental movement in recent times ("Tearing up lessons on planning", Opinion, January 13th).
Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, the media have done little to highlight global environmental challenges or Ireland's woeful environmental record.
In Britain recently the environment figured in the front-page headlines of two broadsheet newspapers. On January 8th the Guardian and London Independent led with a report on an article in the current issue of Nature by Dr Chris Thomas that global warming will cause the extinction of one million species by the year 2050. When was the last time that a global environment story made the main headline in The Irish Times or any Irish newspaper?
Irish newspapers have supplements on a variety of topics from sport to finance. None has a regular supplement on the environment. - Yours, etc.,
Father SEÁN McDONAGH,
St Columban's,
Dalgan Park,
Navan,
Co Meath.