Sir, – I was pleased to see the disgraceful state of the Quaker cemetery on Cork Street, Dublin, highlighted by your new Dublin Editor Olivia Kelly ("Historic cemetery in decline amid ownership row", News, August 19th). The reaction of the HSE and Dublin City Council to local concerns over the neglect of this significant graveyard shows the importance of that post! The buck-passing between two statutory agencies is unacceptable. The article marks a depressing beginning to Heritage Week and should prompt a swift response from the Minister for Culture and Heritage Josepha Madigan. The burial ground is a link to the many Quaker families who played such a significant role in the economic and industrial life of the capital over the centuries. Reflecting on the legacy of families such as Pims, Goodbodys, Jacobs and Bewleys, is it too much to expect that the HSE and the Dublin City Council would develop a plan before the adjoining property is vacated? The grounds would make a fitting memorial not just to the Society of Friends but to the great industrial and craft tradition of the Liberties, of which the Quakers were such an integral part. Over to Ms Madigan. Go on, prove that Heritage Week is more than just a photo-opportunity. – Yours, etc,
SÉAMUS DOOLEY,
Dublin 8.