Sir, - It was good indeed to read Lorna Siggins's Irishwoman's Diary (October 5th). In particular it was good to see at the centre of that Diary a photograph of John Joss Lynam, for Mr Lynam has been not just a pioneer of Irish mountaineering, but also its patriarch right down through the years. If one were to reproach your article for one little thing it is for the fact that it fails to mention that all the intense activity carried out by him has been done without any remuneration of any sort, solely for the satisfaction which one assumes he obtains from being the servant of "a cause".
For all that service I for one am deeply grateful, and I know that in my gratitude I am joined by a legion of the other masochists who have decided to make a hobby of tramping our Irish hills (and the hills further afield) down through the years.
I would but add an "Amen!" to the last couple of paragraphs where Ms Siggins mentions the desolation of so much of the rural uplands of the west of Ireland. I recall this summer travelling through a beautiful valley near Doolough, Co Mayo and having my eyes assaulted by a most appalling clump of conifers. Given that there is virtually no-one left to farm our hills, I do not see why we should have intrusions like this (or the barbed wire that you find everywhere these days) to contend with as well. - Yours, etc.,
Philip Gormley,
Garden Street,
Magherafelt,
Co. Derry.