Sir, – You have published two opinion pieces this week which, if not diametrically opposed, are not without conflict. First there was the piece by James Harpur, "Nature is key to heritage and we must defend it" (September 14th). And then today a piece by former president Mary Robinson, "How do we power the world without destroying the planet?", which calls for the deployment of renewable sources of power. On one hand we can protect our heritage, which probably means the entire country, but risk further damaging the Earth. On the other hand we might sacrifice some sites of significant heritage but contribute to saving our planet.
As in most things some balance is required but our solution does need to come from a conversation which involves a wide cross-section of society, including a range of professional bodies. – Yours, etc,
BILL GRIMSON,
President,
Engineers Ireland,
Rathgar, Dublin 6.