Sir, - Peter Kiely of Turku, Finland told us (January 7th) us about his trip to the recent employment fair in Dublin. He then went on to cite a number of good reasons why he would not come back to Ireland, including poor childcare facilities, transport policy and litter. However, it seems strange that he should put himself to the bother of going to a job fair when he had no intention of using the opportunity to look for a job.
I was also among the thousands of Irish people who flooded back home for Christmas. However, I came from Bucharest and I have to say the cleanliness of Ireland positively staggered me. The lack of potholes was breathtaking. The consideration given to cyclists was heart-warming. And as for childcare facilities. . . I speak relatively, of course.
Perhaps it was ironic that the same issue of The Irish Times featured a report on Irish people being flown out to the Netherlands to do the work that the Dutch consider too dirty for them.
I suppose I am saying that in Ireland all is not for the best, but things are not so bad. - Yours, etc., John Hughes,
Piata Unirii, Bucharest, Romania.