Madam, - We find it ironic that the Minister of State for Europe, Mr Dick Roche, is calling for An Taisce's prescribed status to be revoked at a time when it is being suggested that if tourists want to see green fields "they should go to places like Scotland" (Jim Connolly, Rural Dwellers' Association, The Irish Times, March 13th).
There is no need to remind your readers of the critical importance of tourism to our economy. What people may not know is that, according to a Bord Fáilte survey, the prime reason quoted by tourists for visiting Ireland is our scenery.
An Taisce is a voluntary organisation which believes that only through careful management and monitoring of Ireland's countryside can we ensure that present and future generations will be able to enjoy the gift of our landscape and natural heritage. To those who claim that "you can't eat the scenery", it should by now be clear that, in effect, we have been successfully "eating the scenery" for many years.
An Taisce does not make the decisions on planning applications, nor do we make the rules. We simply comment on applications; the planning authorities make the decisions. To limit the role of An Taisce when it is needed more than ever to draw attention to environmental issues would surely be tantamount to agreeing with the sentiment that our tourists should "go to places like Scotland". - Yours, etc.,
V.M. O'SHEA, Honorary Secretary, An Taisce, Dublin 8.
Madam, - As conservationists and environmentalists of the northern counties of Ireland, we view with dismay the recent attacks on the integrity of An Taisce. It seems to us that An Taisce effectively fulfils its indispensable function of challenging dubious development and potentially harmful environmental proposals.
We wish to put it on record that we support An Taisce in its struggle to conserve the character and identity of Ireland. - Yours, etc.,
CHARLES BRETT, President, PETER O. MARLOW, Chairman,
Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, Belfast 7.