Sir, – Further to Deaglán de Bréadún's charming Irishman's Diary (February 27th) about his encounters with the late Anthony Cronin and his call for Tony to be commemorated by a bridge or street and not just "Anthony Cronin Lane" in Ranelagh, we in Ranelagh Arts were responding to a brilliant imitative by Dublin City Council's South East Area Office to "Reclaim your Lanes", which encourages local communities and neighbourhoods to clean up lanes in their area's that are being spoiled by anti-social behaviour.
From our research, we identified that the lane in question never had a local or official name. We approached the great man himself and he was delighted with the idea.
We suggested a number of alternatives – “Boulevard”, “Parade” and “Place” – but Tony himself insisted that it should be Anthony Cronin Lane. He loved the idea. With the co-operation of Dublin City Council, which provided materials, our all-voluntary organisation went ahead and cleaned up the lane, painted over years of graffiti, erected a temporary cover and hosted a number of literary events. Tony, with his partner Anne Haverty and members of his family, attended, and he opened “Anthony Cronin Lane”. Tony had been a participant in Ranelagh Arts festivals over the years.
One year he memorably took part in a reading in BoyleSports bookmakers, which merged his two great passions, literature and horse racing. We also encouraged his ground-breaking collaboration with the musician and composer Donal Lunny.
A hotel is presently being built on Anthony Cronin Lane, and perhaps the owners would consider commemorating him in some way in the new building. – Yours, etc,
TERRY CONNAUGHTON,
San Telmo,
Buenos Aires,
Argentina.