Sir, –In the course of a distinguished career, Ruairí Quinn finally give the lie to the notion that a member of the Labour Party was unsuited to be minister for finance. In the most difficult of circumstances, he reversed the effects of the disastrous economics policies of the late 1970s and 1980s, and in 1997 brought in the first budget surplus.
Unfortunately a change of government was to see this good work squandered, and Mr Quinn was to see his last period in Dáil Éireann absorbed with, once again, rectifying the situation.
When the legacy of Ruairí Quinn comes to be evaluated, his period in the Department of Finance will rank among his greatest achievements. – Yours, etc,
FRANK BRENNAN,
Windsor Terrace,
Dublin 8.
Sir, – In 2011, the wall of the Ringsend bridge collapsed and consequently Fitzwilliam Quay was made a one-way road, which was bad news for our family business (motor body repairs) as we were losing trade.
We received very little information from the company repairing the wall and footpath as to how long it would take to finish the project
Months later, I met Ruairí Quinn on the street in Dublin 4, while he was canvassing with Cllr Kevin Humphreys. I told him of our predicament and asked him to please find out how long it would take to finish the bridge repair as it was in his constituency.
He said he would get back to me, although I hadn’t given him my name, just the name of our garage.
A week later, my brother and I received a handwritten letter with full details of the engineering rebuild and the time span for completion, with his email address and phone number.
I was quite impressed! – Yours, etc,
COLIN ASHMORE,
Fitzwilliam Quay,
Ringsend,
Dublin 4.