Sir, - Could I appeal to Dubliners to stop scaring away tourists by giving them too much well-meant advice? I recently had an American guest, who is a sophisticated traveller. She has travelled around the world on her own. But after three days in Dublin, and advice from everyone she spoke to about looking after her wallet and avoiding bad areas, she was so scared she paid £100 extra to alter her flight plans and fly early to the safety of London.
Kindly Dubliners kept giving her warnings, which resulted in her being terrified of everyone she met on the street, and afraid to be in the city centre after 5 p.m.
No-one wants to see tourists being robbed. But constant, unsolicited warnings about the dangers of Dublin will do more to ruin their holidays than actually losing their wallets. - Yours, etc., Eileen Gormley,
River Valley,
Swords, Co Dublin.