Sir, - I find myself in total disagreement with the views expressed in your Editorial of November 7th. It is clear that you have not visited the banks of the River Dodder in recent times, especially the area close to Pearse Bridge. I wonder what your opinion would be if you had the mess which is to be found there on your own doorstep. The area must qualify as the worst kept dump in Ireland. It is reminiscent of scenes from Beirut when car bombs were a regular occurrence in that city.
There are several stripped cars actually in the river, while other burnt wrecks are too numerous to count. All conceivable pieces of domestic rubbish, such as refrigerators, cookers, dishwashers, carpets, old clothes, items of furniture, windows, doors, bicycles and scrap metal, are strewn all around the place.
Plastic waste festoons the trees. Amenity grassland has been reduced to a quagmire. Public footpaths along the Dodder are no-go areas. The region is a breeding ground for vermin.
Then you have the garden cuttings. It is patently obvious that litter louts are operating a business, illegally. No doubt they have been paid to dispose of such waste properly but, to maximise their tax-free gain, they selfishly dump it on public property.
I have no sympathy for these freeloaders. Many of them have homes elsewhere in Ireland or England. They have 01 registered vehicles, colour televisions, luxury caravans. It is ironic that anyone who throws a cigarette butt on the street can be fined £50, yet Travellers can devastate a whole area with absolute impunity.
No, Fine Gael for once nearly got it right. We need more draconian laws to deal with all forms of litter. - Yours, etc.,
M.A. Farragher, Terenure, Dublin 6W.