Sir, - It seems that beer cans, lager louts, drunken brawls and over-worked nurses in our hospital emergency wards will symbolise Ireland's celebration of the new millennium.
Of course, we must celebrate, but when we wake up next morning, let us see something more elegant, more permanent and more inspiring than tons of garbage on our streets. After all, this is the 2,000 anniversary of the birth of Christ and the moment when God came down into human history.
A statue of Christ, a simple cross or a statue of St Patrick who brought Christianity to Ireland, would be an ideal symbol to mark the occasion. Like Glendalough, Clonmacnoise, Ballintubber and Cashel, such a monument could last well into the new millennium and, when we are dead and gone, provide inspiration for great deeds by future generations. - Yours, etc., John O'Halloran,
Bantry Road, Dublin 9.