Sir, - My heart sank when I caught sight of the illustration used on Page 14 of your edition of September 15th. I know that it is hard to fill the void when Martyn Turner's work is unavailable, but this offering, entitled "The World's Population: Six Billion and Counting", recycled form Svenska Dagbladet, is lamentably simplistic.
The image of a Titanic-like world sinking into the sea under the weight of six billion citizens panders to the basest form of population alarmism and ignores the fact that we are talking about six billion individuals born into an unequal world.
When the human family reaches the moment of having six billion living members, that will indeed be a significant event. The issue raises questions about the equity of global wealth distribution, equal access to food and water, access to basic health services and the global deficit in human rights. Lets focus on these challenges, not on outdated imagery. - Yours, etc.,
Tony O'Brien, Chief Executive, Irish Family Planning Association, O'Connell Street, Dublin 1.