Sir - Mary Gahan (February addresses the ongoing problem of curtailed bus services to her locality. Finglas is not alone in this regard; Mulhuddart and Tallaght are prone to an identical problem, and for precisely the same reason. For example, I am reliably informed that last New Year's Eve was celebrated in certain areas of Tallaght by the breaking of no fewer than 18 bus windows; in Ms Gahan's sector, the tally over the Christmas period was 55.
The cost of this tomfoolery runs into tens of thousands, even in cases where there are no personal injuries. Is it any wonder, then, that Dublin Bus makes the reluctant decision (while it still has a few undamaged buses left!) to withdraw services?
Mary Gahan apportions the blame in a predictable fashion; the politicians are at fault and the Guards, by inferred inactivity, are guilty. I would wager that if the Gardai actually apprehended some of these missile-hurling brats and obliged them to spend a night in the cooler, there would be a hullaballoo to end all hullaballoos.
No, the responsibility for this regrettable impasse lies fairly and squarely with the people most affected, I'm sorry to say. Ms Gahan refers to "stone-throwing children (some younger than ten years old)" and, in the next sentence, to "young mothers with children".
Could there be any remote possibility, I wonder, that these "children" might be one and the same - Dr Jekylls when with mother, Mr Hydes when out of their parents' sight? If my hypothesis were to be proved correct, my only conclusion would be that, as far as bus services and general quality of life are concerned, these people who abdicate their parental responsibilities have only themselves to blame. - Yours, etc.,
Castle Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin 3.