Madam, – Interesting that this Government can instantly find €50 or €60 billion to hand to their cronies in the banks “in order to help small businesses” but can’t find a few million to grit roads to enable the people in these small businesses to get to work. Does it not even understand that its only source of income, apart from theft (ie borrowing from our children and grandchildren without our permission), is the tax of genuine workers? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – While not underestimating the danger for pedestrians, how wonderful to experience the peace of a snowy and near car-less Dublin! No noise, no pollution, no danger from selfish and indifferent drivers.
One can hear people conversing, children playing, greetings being exchanged across streets. And all around, the quiet and fresh air of which the car has robbed us.
What pure joy it is to walk in the Georgian quarter and admire the gracious proportions of buildings, streets and squares. Or by the curving river with its many graceful bridges, as if in a scene from Joyce’s The Dead.
In my less grand thoroughfare, an 80-year-old neighbour has made stepping-stones of sand across the street to visit her neighbour. Another neighbour fetches the newspaper and messages for a housebound man.
The economic collapse has taught us that there is more to life than the impurely commercial. Long may the snow remain if it reminds us of the beauty and power of nature and encourages us to resist becoming mere cyphers on a balance sheet. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Given the totally inadequate response from some local authorities to treatment of roads it’s high time to implement Colm McCarthy’s rationalisation recommendations and scrap these incompetent bodies? Claims of resource shortages are in sharp contrast to the palatial headquarters they have provided for themselves at the expense of front line staff. There are nearly 40 county /city /borough councils with bureaucracy and administration duplicated over and over. These bodies are supposed to provide services for the common good but some cannot even agree with each other and interpret environmental criteria in an à la carte manner.
The taxpayers of Ireland would be far better served by a slimmed down local government organisations of maybe 10 “super councils” all singing from the same hymn sheet. – Yours, sincerely,
SHAY CORCORAN,
Enfield, Co Meath.
Madam, – Has it never occurred to anyone that our Minister for Transport went out to sunny climes on a working holiday? Whereas some people might think he was out golfing every day, I would not be surprised if in fact he was instead assiduously testing the sand in the bunkers, assessing its suitability for our icy roads. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The greatest cause of danger on our roads in recent days has not been the ice and snow, but the outbreak of mass hysteria among commuters which seems to accompany any spell of harsh weather.
Having witnessed this at first hand on Wednesday last, when thousands of people inexplicably fled their workplaces from 2pm onwards, I can come to no other conclusion.
What possessed people to believe that a frantic dash home in the early afternoon was likely to be any safer than the usual journey home in the early evening? All the grit under the stars could not compensate for the irrational behaviour of so many of our road users. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Rather than join the coterie of curmudgeons who are bemoaning the problems associated with our cold spell, can I thank the dedicated people who are diligently performing their daily duties in these challenging conditions. Just to be clear, I am not alluding to our politicians. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Upon my return from a brief visit to London recently I was reminded of a distinct advantage that cities, such as London, have over our capital city. In times when ice-cold temperatures make surface-level road transport virtually grind to a halt, the London Underground rail system ensures that the business of the region continues. This cold reality offers something very instructive to Dublin. It says we need to build Metro North, Metro West, the Dart Underground and make a start in London’s direction. – Yours, etc,