Sir, - Your issue of August 17th carries a letter from a French visitor complaining, inter alia, of litter on the Fanad peninsula. I and my family are on holiday there at this moment, and we concur heartily with her sentiments - although we did see a man clearing litter from the Letterkenny/Derry road.
I write because the major reason for this problem is an obvious one: a council policy (we noted that it is the same in Kerry) about which every resident complains. I am told that it is necessary to pay 50p for every bag of rubbish and £2.50 for every visit to the dump (and it is also necessary to attach one's name and address to the bags!). What results would any student of human nature expect from such a policy? I'd expect to see rubbish dumped in unnamed bags everywhere.
If access to ample rubbish disposal facilities was free and easy, then most of the problems would disappear and everyone, local and visitor, would be a lot happier. Those armies of clerks and accountants employed to process the payments and check the names attached to each bag could be redeployed collecting the rubbish. Taking into account the office savings here and the economies of scale associated with moving larger quantities. the whole system might not be much more expensive than the present one.
Yours, etc.,
Felsted, Dunmow, Essex CM6 3DS.