Sir, - Paddy Teahon's six-point defence of the Stadium Ireland project (The Irish Times, April 28th), contains an interesting reference to Ireland as "a small country, albeit one of the richest in the world".
One wonders on what criteria this statement is based. Certainly, Ireland currently enjoys a thriving economy - but that is not to say that it is a rich country. A rich country has good general infrastructure. It has a high standard of public services, such as transport and health care. Most of all, it has a reasonable distribution of wealth among its citizens. Ireland has, so far, none of these things, and the challenge facing us is the conversion of recent economic success into the nation-wide wealth of a country such as Denmark.
There is an urgent need for huge and immediate investment in infrastructure. Simultaneously, there is an urgent need for huge investment in public services and social spending. After we've done all that, lets talk about Bertie's Bowl. - Yours, etc.,
Dr Cormac Rafferty, Ballymabin, Dunmore East, Co Waterford.