Sir, - I have greatly enjoyed visiting your country but one thing leaves a very bad memory - litter! I think only Greece is worse, and I must point out that Northern Ireland, though far from good, is much better than the Republic.
Driving from Dublin to Limerick on the main road, it is impossible to travel more than 50 metres without seeing roadside rubbish, mostly plastic bags and drink tins. But two places really made an impression on we French, a bad one, one was the lay by on the Louth side of the border, between Dundalk and Newry and the other, the beautiful Fanad peninsula in Donegal.
We were also disappointed by the scarcity of picnic sites (with tables) throughout the Republic, where we could get off the road in pleasant surroundings. I fear that again you compare very poorly with the North, which seems to have a large number of such facilities of a very high order.
I know litter is a terrible problem to deal with, but really, you are not giving your country a good image by being so bad. - Yours, etc.,
63400 Chamalieres,
France.