Madam, - Seamus Heaney is, sadly, incorrect in his expectation anyone cares about natural or literary monuments such as the swans at Coole Park.
The NRA is in the last stages of planning a road that will destroy the atmosphere for people of the turlough and swans of Coole, but there is neither local, national, nor international outcry.
The road will run right past the entrance to Coole Park, cutting off the commuting route of internationally important lesser horseshoe bats, and creating a permanent buzz of traffic that will probably be audible throughout Coole Park.
It will permanently destroy the atmosphere in a lovely old forest and lake complex where hundreds of people go to enjoy the peace and quiet of nature.
But it is going ahead, without outcry or action to protect swans, bats, and people's facilities for relaxation. It is going ahead without, indeed, a brief stop on the part of the agencies responsible thinking: priceless location, irreplaceable history, and lovely swans. . . ah, sure, go ahead and ruin it. - Yours, etc,
Dr SASHA BOSBEER, CEnv, MIEEM, Salthill, Galway.