A Chara, - On March 24th the Minister for Sport and Tourism, Mr McDaid, complained that "we Irish are a filthy people". He then asserted that the Government could not solve the litter problem by spending millions of pounds on it.
These glib comments highlight the acute lack of political will regarding this issue. The Minister implied that until we change there isn't much our government can do. That is utter nonsense.
Many Irish people are very conscious of waste disposal. Many more are not. But people are fickle and attitudes can change relatively quickly, especially when given the appropriate incentives. This has been true in the case of our attitude to drink-driving. It is now known that some European tourists and tour operators are choosing not to visit Ireland because they are disgusted by the ubiquitous rubbish. This means that money spent on the litter problem, if only from an economic viewpoint, is money well spent.
The legislation relating to property owners (of such as fastfood outlets) appears to be ignored by law enforcers. Fines must be increased and the law must be enforced. The issue of excessive packaging must be addressed.
This most certainly is an issue for Government and one hopes it will not adopt Mr McDaid's laissez-faire approach. If it does, a ministry of tourism will no longer be required. - Is mise,
Ciaran MacAonghusa,
Na Duganna,
Gaillimh.