Sir, - An article in The Irish Times (May 28th) concerning planning matters in Waterford was in my opinion, unbalanced and condescending in tone, and displayed an ignorance of developments in Waterford which was quite mindboggling.
At a recent Corporation meeting I criticised the local branch of An Taisce for objecting to a planning application. I did so in the context of two other objections made by An Taisce in recent years - one to the proposed bus station on the quay in Waterford and the other to a proposal by a voluntary organisation to build apartments for the elderly. The construction of the apartments would have necessitated the demolition of an old house in Lady Lane.
In my opinion, which I stated at the council meeting, An Taisce (locally) were behaving like vigilantes - a self appointed body trying to impose their own standards on the citizens of Waterford.
I was subsequently interviewed by reporters of the local press and on local radio regarding my remarks, so the "debate" was well and truly out in the public arena.
I have no problem with the writer of the article in your paper disagreeing with me. I have no problem with the article implying that I and other councillors are some kind of red necks who lack any feeling for the finer things in life.
But I do think that to use four words out of my comments (which give rise to the "debate") while at the same time quoting copiously from An Taisce's objection to the planning application is less than equitable.
My main reason for writing this letter is not to justify my comments or defend my viewpoint; it is to object strongly to the writer of the article using a few words out of a statement by me as a vehicle for sneering at Waterford. His cheap comments regarding the streetscapes in Waterford are so at variance with reality as to be laughable. His assertion that we are aspiring to find a confident identity says more about the writer and his work than about Waterford and its people. His allegation of a failure on our part to preserve our heritage could easily be refuted by the writer joining one of the guided tours which take place daily - starting at the Granville Hotel, which for the writer's information is situated on the Quay.
It is a pity that your paper, which is, or so you tell us, attempting to give better coverage to Waterford and to the SouthEast, should carry, what to me is a damning example of distorting the facts to accommodate a particular mindset. - Yours, etc.,
The Folly,
Waterford.