Madam, – Last year I had my wallet stolen on a Dublin bus, which did not have a working TV camera. The other passengers offered eight different descriptions of the young, female thief, the driver drove slightly off route to take me to the nearest Garda station, and hearing I now had no money or bus ticket, the lady seated next to me shook my hand as I got off and palmed a €50 note into my hand.
The Garda took the details, and when I got home a phone call had come from the Tourists’ Aid organisation, which when I called back helped me cancel my credit cards and to get the police report for my insurers.
The Garda called two days later and got my wallet, now empty of money and cards, to the nearest Garda station. Back in Canada, with the aid of the Garda report, my insurers reimbursed me 90 per cent of the considerable sum I lost. And you have an excellent bus system in Dublin! – Yours, etc,