Left holding the . . .

Madam, – Life’s bounty has brought me the companionship of a gorgeous Pointer/Border Collie named Delta, who loves to chase …

Madam, – Life’s bounty has brought me the companionship of a gorgeous Pointer/Border Collie named Delta, who loves to chase tennis balls around Clarinda Park. I’m a responsible citizen and Delta, as a healthy canine, obeys her biological imperatives; therefore I carry plastic bags.

However, it seems clear to me that Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council does not support civic responsibility in this regard, as I am invariably obliged to circumnavigate Clarinda Park while holding a bag of warm dog poo because there are no bins.

Could this be a suitable metaphor for the current experience of being Irish? – Yours, etc,

CIARAN CASEY,

Clarinda Mews,

Clarinda Park West,

Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.