Sir, - The long, gloomy, Finnish winters have obviously had an effect on Peter Kiely (January 7th), for nothing else could explain such a negative attitude upon his return home this Christmas. Like Mr Kiely, I have been living abroad for the past five years but on each trip home I am more and more impressed with what I see. Cork, for example, my home town, is virtually unrecognisable from when I last lived there. Spanking new ring-roads, a relatively gleaming city centre, a happy and prosperous populace and a generally positive air are just some aspects of its transformation that make it a far more attractive place than in 1994. Some areas of concern for Mr Kiely, such as education and health, are hardly in such a perilous state as he would have us believe (at least not compared with where I currently reside), and hopefully these and other quality-of-life issues will improve as our economy continues to prosper. He should remember that not so long ago the country was practically on its knees and a complete overnight transformation is not realistic.
Perhaps he should also remember the dictum: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." It is common knowledge that returning immigrants have played a significant part in the recent economic boom and I hope that those of us who are lucky enough to have had the opportunity to live abroad can continue to return and make a positive contribution. Issues such as children's play areas, dirty streets, litter, are often more effectively tackled through community activism (think of Kinsale) than through government legislation. If Mr Kiely has acquired interesting ideas on such matters while living in Finland, perhaps he should come back and share them, rather than hoping the job is taken care of in his absence.
- Yours etc., Colman Walsh, Clinton Park, San Francisco, USA.