Sir, – Congratulations are due to the members of Ibal (Irish Business Against Litter) for their tireless efforts to clean up Dublin’s streets – which are now (mostly) clean to European levels (Home News, September 2nd) .
I wonder should the focus now be on the city’s waterways? My daily commute takes me past the Tolka and the Liffey, both of which, at low tide, are as rank as they have ever been. Since it should be obvious by now that the citizenry cannot be dissuaded from throwing traffic cones, tyres and bicycle frames into the rivers, and the effort of cleaning them is costly, disruptive and ultimately futile, Dublin City Council might consider the construction of weirs at Merchants Quay on the Liffey and East Wall on the Tolka. These would be high enough to hold sufficient water upstream to cover the detritus at low tide but low enough to allow the rising tide to cover them. Sluices could be fitted so that they could be occasionally opened to remove any build-up of silt. The cascading effect of the water during the falling tide would offer some visual attraction and the Merchants Quay weir could be stylised in a manner to recall the original Wattle Ford. – Yours, etc,
PAUL MILNE,
Dublin Road,
Sutton,
Co Dublin.