FINTAN TUOHY,
Madam, - The closure of the Limerick-Nenagh railway line now seems a certainty. Such are the unfortunate aspects of this new "fiscal environment".
While train-lovers must swallow this pill, plans remain afoot to construct a 44-metre-wide snaking monstrosity of a tolled motorway from Limerick to Nenagh at a cost of €5,000-a-metre.
For a fraction of the cost of the motorway, the sinfully underused railway line could be upgraded to carry commuters and freight alike. At enormous cost to the exchequer and the environment, the Government is engineering its transport policy to benefit the road companies who will collect arbitrarily levied tolls from motorists in perpetuity. What an age we live in. - Yours, etc.,
FINTAN TUOHY, Cloon, Castleconnell, Co Limerick.