Sir, – Whether it is at national or local level our political system is in imminent danger of imploding.
How on earth can our politicians consider spending our taxes on a white-water rafting facility when we have a homeless housing crisis and a trolley crisis in our A&Es?
There is no attempt or sense of accountability let alone care and compassion. As we have seen in recent days the elite “work” the expenses and pension systems to the detriment of the taxpayers.
Surely, it’s time for the Taoiseach, and our senior civil servants to take a stricter approach to the management of Ireland Inc. I won’t hold my breath! – Yours, etc,
MIKE CORMACK,
Blackrock, Co Dublin.
Sir, – Cliff Taylor (December 7th) in his excellent critique of the €23 million white-water rafting plan for Dublin uses the abbreviation WTF. Is this a sister body to the World Trade Organisation (WTO)? Perhaps it stands for World Trade Federation or World Trade Forum?
But now it dawns on me in relation to this questionable plan it can only mean one thing: Where’s The Funding? Next time, Mr Taylor, may I suggest you spell it out to the powers that be? – Yours, etc,
NOEL COSTELLO,
Sutton, Dublin 13.
Sir, – Cliff Taylor’s column on plans to develop a white-water rafting facility in George’s Dock, Dublin (Opinion, December 7th) adds a further reason to oppose Irish Water’s €1.3 billion project to pump millions of litres of water daily from the Shannon to the eastern region instead of spending the money to remedy the 57 per cent leakage rate of Dublin’s supply.
In terms of water conservation this proposal is almost as unsustainable as the development of cooling water-thirsty data centres along the M50 corridor rather than in the Shannon’s catchment. – Yours, etc,
EUGENE PRATT,
Limerick.
Sir, – The image of the white- water rafting facility in Dublin Docks shows what looks like an 8 metre wide 0.5 metre deep stream of water flowing at 10km/hr down a total drop of 2 metres. If the pump moving this water operates at an efficiency of 75 per cent for eight hours a day 200 days a year it will consume 465,067kWh of electricity per annum. According to CER’s latest fuel mix disclosure report the generation of this amount of electricity in Ireland results in 135,334kg of CO2 being released into the atmosphere annually. – Yours, etc,
TIM COOPER,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.