Sir, – The proposed locations for more hotels in Dublin city centre (Una Mullally, "Cobblestone protest's potency a portent of what is to come", Opinion & Analysis, October 11th) really is beyond a joke .
One really wonders what type of city we are trying to build and for whom. Certainly not for those who find themselves homeless or living in overpriced rental accommodation or who seek some cultural enrichment. Maybe it is just for tourists in open-top buses to view the latest hotel on their tour of a soulless run-down city. – Yours, etc,
MIKE MORAN,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3.
Sir, – I don’t often find myself agreeing with Una Mullally but this time she has hit the nail on the head. I have long been angered by our planning laws which continue to allow for more and more city hotels and office blocks rather than facilitating the conversion of under-used upper floors of existing buildings and the creation of new homes. It has long been agreed that what is needed is a living city with housing suitable for raising families, yet this stupidity continues. If proof of this disastrous policy were needed, we have the Covid epidemic to show how like a deserted village our towns and cities became when dependent on transient tourists and the odd fox.
When will this generally acknowledged madness cease? – Yours, etc,
MARION WALSH,
Dublin 4.