Sir, - It was truly depressing to read your report (The Irish Times, February 13th) of the bayings of Mayo county councillors as they queued up to flagellate An Taisce for daring to speak up for the increasingly degraded environment of Mayo. Such a Ballymagash-like hullabaloo begs the return of the much lamented Frank Hall.
The fact is that An Taisce is one of the main bodies standing for what is left of value in the natural environment of this county, for little more than lip-service is paid by those officials and local authorities in whom responsibility is vested on behalf of the ordinary citizen.
The reason usually trumped up as to why one-off rural dwellings should be allowed is that they are necessary for a family home for a son or a daughter, or other close-in family member. Few people would object, if this were true, but that is very much the exception to the rule. The truth is that most of the roads and by-ways of Mayo are littered with auctioneers' notices advertising "Sites for Sale", the said sites being available to any comer who can come up with the asking price.
No, what the eminent councillors are chorusing about is that their constituents, farmers and others, should not be in any way hindered from turning parts of their holdings into development land when a quick buck is needed. It is a scandal that agricultural land, into which so much of taxpayers' money has been pumped by way of grants, should be development land overnight, and thereby a recipe for the creation of the sort of straggling rural suburbia that planners, in fairness, have been trying to curtail in the face of political pressure.
In this county as well as others in the West (though Mayo is one of the worst) must be added the appalling over-grazing of hills to mop up EU grants; the hundreds of miles of barbed-wire REPS fencing so alien in a landscape that once featured stone walls and easygoing access; widespread agricultural pollution of our great Western lakes (about which, needless to say, the IFA is in kneejerk denial mode); the ravages by Coillte's widespread clearfelling policies without any sign of replanting; and the destruction of the bogs by brutal "sausage-machine" peat harvesting.
On all fronts the environment here has taken a beating, and this continues down the Gadarene slope with no apparent check. The latest threat is that of the siting of large-scale salmon farming operations deep within the almost-enclosed confines of Clew Bay which, apart from adding to the pollution, will gravely detract further from the scenic value that this area once had.
So it goes on. The importance of tourism to this area is incalculable. Visitors have always come here because it is - or was - attractive, natural and cherished. With councillors like the ones we've got, however, who needs saboteurs? It's much easier to shoot the messenger. An Taisce in this case. People are beginning to notice that there is a lot wrong - your columnists of late and several letters to the Editor bear this out - and, unless there is an about-turn soon, tourists will vote with their feet and go elsewhere.
And they will be right. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL MURPHY,
Pinewoods,
Westport,
Co Mayo.