Sir, - As a public representative with Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, I was dismayed to read that the State Millennium Committee is contributing £700,000 to the pop opera Messiah XXI. Surely the purpose of the millennium funds is to help projects that will have a lasting social contribution into the next century, not to subsidise a two-night bash where ticket prices of £29 and £39 will ensure that only the well-heeled can attend.
Our council submitted a number of worthy proposals (including help towards reclaiming one of our main parks, Kilbogget, which was formerly a dump) that would permanently improve the quality of life for all local citizens (no admission charge!). To date, we have been turned down for all of them.
It's rather like the Lotto millions, which often seem to find their way into projects that benefit a limited number of people who are not in great need in the first place. It can only leave you wondering if we didn't have the right connections, because we certainly had the right projects.
Surely the Millennium Funds Committee should stick to funding projects that will contribute to an inclusive society in the next century and leave pop operas to the privately secure and Andrew Lloyd Webber. - Yours, etc.,
Eoin Costello, Abberley, Killiney, Co Dublin