Sir, – I don’t know if William Coogan missed the part of Olivia Kelly’s article (August 6th) about the restoration of Mountjoy Square where it stated that the current facilities are to be relocated nearby and that restoration of the eastern part of the square would take place “only after alternative community facilities are provided in the vicinity of equal or higher quality”. Or that the current 1930s/1960s buildings are nearing the end of their useful life and would require replacing in the near future.
You don’t have to be a top-hatted “toff” to appreciate that the restoration of Mountjoy square would be a boon to the area, is long overdue and would be appreciated by all. But perhaps it’s a case of never letting the facts stand in the way of a chance to bash “the conservation lobby”. – Yours, etc,
RORY J WHELAN,
Roschoill,
Drogheda,
Co Louth
Sir, – I write to add my support to William Coogan (August 8th) on the Mountjoy Square plan, and I do so as one who has long been a supporter of preserving the heritage of Georgian Dublin.
The proposed works are a total waste of money at a time when homelessness is starkly on the rise in this country. What could €8.1 million do to refurbish some at present unused publicly owned buildings to provide emergency shelter, for instance? Meanwhile, the extremely badly needed facilities of Mountjoy Square are going to disappear, to be “relocated elsewhere,” according to your news report in Wednesday’s edition.
This is a daft idea; it is crazy that Dublin City Council, with its recently-elected left-wing majority, should approve such a scheme. Has it done so, or is this just bureaucratic folly? Yours, etc.,
PETER THOMPSON,
Ferrybank,
Arklow,
Co. Wicklow