Madam, - Lorna Siggins's report that the State is to purchase a 1930s Avro biplane from New Zealand is worrying (The Irish Times, February 16th). We do not have a good track record of preserving either our transport or military heritage in this country.
A Constellation aircraft at Dublin Airport which was to be "preserved" sadly no longer exists, having been cut up and disposed of. A transport heritage centre at Mullingar Railway Station was proposed some years ago by the then Minister for Transport, Mary O'Rourke TD, but it came to nothing. The Defence Forces and some voluntary organisations, such as the National Transport Museum in Howth, Co Dublin, as well as some private preservationists nurture the bulk of our nation's transport gems, yet most of these are unseen to the public due to the lack of a dedicated transport museum in the Republic.
Were it not for the excellent Ulster Folk and Transport Museum at Cultra, outside Belfast, we would be bereft of seeing classics such as Meadhbh, the largest railway steam engine ever to work the rails in the Republic. So what chance has an Avro 631 of ever being seen by the taxpayers who bought it? - Yours, etc,
ED O'NEILL,
Glaslyn,
Howth Road,
Dublin 3.