Madam, - It's sad to hear of the beautiful county of Kerry being spoiled by ignorance and greed.
Perhaps some people who have lived in the countryside all their lives are too close to the land to treat it with due respect. Familiarity breeds contempt, and nature is seen as merely an economic resource rather than something to be admired and preserved.
The situation is particularly bad in Ireland given our low state of visual culture. This goes back to the neglect of art and nature study in Irish primary schools after Independence.
One example of successful, non-intrusive rural housing is in the Danube Valley in Austria. There, houses are built in clusters and are of indigenous design and construction suited to local weather conditions, with small windows, flatter roofs than we're used to, and gable ends. The houses tend to be painted in pastel colours and are always surrounded by trees. Far from clashing with their surroundings, they enhance them. If Austria can get it right, why can't we?
Decades ago, the same arguments were trotted to justify the destruction of Dublin as are now being used to justify the erosion of the Irish countryside. The fight in Dublin was more or less won by the conservationists, but after a long battle and at a terrible price. Will it take decades to win the fight for the countryside, by which time there may not be much worth saving? - Yours, etc.,
PAUL O'BRIEN, Bertram Court, Dublin, 8.