Madam, – On our way to the peaceful demonstration in town last Saturday week, just as we were getting into a taxi outside St Teresa’s Gardens, we were set upon by about eight young males aged eight to 11, and viciously pelted with snowballs. What alarmed us was the anger and hatred that accompanied the throwing. Even when the taxi-door was closed, the force of some snowballs could have broken a window.
Snow can be a beautiful sight, it is part of nature. However, these boys created a very ugly scene, accosting two females in a very aggressive way, in an area where kids are out all day, with hardly an adult in sight. I would like to suggest to those absent parents, that they are making a big mistake if they do not spend time with their kids, teach them respect and self- respect, read to them. There is a big world out there to be explored and violence only causes grief to all. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Bernard Leddy (December 7th) asks why not spray sea water on icy roads? Living by the sea I too thought it would be sensible to use sea water to clear the ice and snow from the public pathways in our locality. With the help of my good neighbour’s son who was, because of the weather, at home from school, some buckets of sea water were collected from Greystones beach and poured over the pathways. With the help of a stiff brush the effect was instant; some 20 metres of pathway were cleared outside our houses.
I guess, though, this may not be a good idea for the roads as the sea salt may enhance corrosion of the undersides of passing vehicles. Also it would not be effective, on pathways or roads, at very low temperatures. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Bernard Leddy (December 7th) makes an astute observation about the use of sea water on icy roads. There are a number of reasons why this would not work effectively in practice. 1. Rock salt is used on roads initially to provide greater traction for tyres and, when the ice melts, to raise the freezing point of the melt water therefore inhibiting re-freezing. 2. Sea water comprises approximately 3.5 per cent salt. Therefore to deliver the same anti-freezing effect as one lorry of rock salt, almost 30 lorries of sea water would be required. 3. As the level of salt in seawater just about stops the sea water from freezing, the additional melt water from snow and ice on the roads would significantly reduce the effectiveness further by reducing the freezing point. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I would like to propose a toast to the wonderful work done by front line staff from Focus Ireland, the Salvation Army and the HSE out-of-hours services who provided and continue to provide warmth, food, shelter and clothing to the most vulnerable homeless children and adults in Ireland. The commitment shown by these staff who travelled to work during the most inclement weather has left me in awe. Well done to them all! – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I wish to praise those who are keeping the country ticking over during the Siberian weather: bus drivers, gardaí, ambulance/fire services, council workers, Army, airport staff, ESB crews, etc. I am listing them in no particular order, but I they are all doing a tremendous job. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The difference between living in Killiney and Maynooth has just become clear to me. When the weather is bad, Killiney gets their delivery of The Irish Times, but no post, whereas in Maynooth the postman delivers his post before 10am every day but The Irish Timesdelivery man gets lost in the snow! – Yours, etc,
Madam, – May I extend a word of thanks to all those who are keeping essential services going during this exceptional cold snap; and not forgetting those who make it possible to start the day with the indispensable “read of the paper”. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Paul O’Kane’s comments on behalf of the Dublin Airport Authority (December 3rd) are predictable – safety clichés and references to UK airport closures.
Syracuse airport in upstate New York serves a city of only 240,000 people. Temperatures during the winter hover, for months on end, between -15 and -30 degrees Celsius. It snows continuously for weeks. I used the airport serially for many years. It rarely closed and then only briefly in blizzards that redefine the meaning of this word.
We can conclude therefore that the issue is down to expertise and resources. Mr O’Kane states that “Dublin Airport has the appropriate level of snow and ice clearing equipment for the Irish climate”. Clearly it does not.
If Mr O’Kane is hinting that the economic equations don’t support the appropriate resources, because of Irish weather patterns, then I would be interested to hear what Mr O’Leary and Mr Mueller have to say about this. Not to mention the poor suffering air traveller or the legions of commercial interests served by the airport. – Yours, etc,