Sir, - I was surprised and appalled to learn, from a report which I chanced to see in The Irish Times, that the Old Head of Kinsale is no longer freely accessible to local people and the public in general. A dramatic piece of wild nature has apparently been transmogrified into a golf course.
Though it is easy to sympathise with the protesters, it is hard to see what can be achieved now. The most would seem to be some sort of compromise. A simple cliff-top path could easily be traced which, since it would encroach only on the very edge of the golf course, would make it possible for walkers to get to the lighthouse at the end of the point without disturbing the golfers. Why was this not thought of before?
However, more disturbing even than this particular case, rendering as it does a popular and spectacular area of cliff scenery out of bounds to the majority of Irish people, is the precedent set by Mr Justice Kearns's overruling of a decision made by An Bord Pleanβla. If this is not challenged there will be no stopping some people declaring parts of our national natural heritage "private property" whenever it suits them so that they can make money flogging its use to rich Americans.
Celtic tiger how are you! Celtic hyena, more like. - Yours, etc.,
Brian Farrington, Aberdeen, Scotland.