Sir, - The assertion in your business section (February 28th) that the water quality of the Liffey was responsible for the failure of the Lotto clock must be challenged. Barry O'Keeffe's use of words such as "dirty river" and "pollution" are not only untrue, but a collective folk memory of the rare ould times.
Since the closure of the Clondalkin Paper Mills years ago, the Camac tributary ceased to pollute. This, together with other improvements, now puts the Liffey at the top section of the list of the healthiest European capital waterways.
The food chain has returned in abundance and the mid city reaches are alive with fish. It is now quite common to see many cormorants, and the odd seal, hunting in the area and in January I witnessed some boys fishing for, and catching, whiting on the rising tide at Matt Talbot Bridge. There is a resident heron on the steps outside the new Jury's Inn, gorging himself on small fish which stray close to the bottom step. In 1988, Dr C. N. Hegarty, senior scientific officer at the Central Laboratory of Dublin Corporation, wrote to me to confirm the good quality of the water in the Liffey.
The clock problem was one of visibility, and it is my guess that the top transparent covers so close to the surface reacted with life giving sunlight and some type of solids in suspension to create an algae variant, or other life form.
Those of us who have to clean our hulls with pressure hoses at our annual dry dock survey are very aware of such interactions.
Like the Lotto people, we also pursue a project on the waters of the Liffey. We hope to succeed but if we fail, we shall blame only ourselves and not the environment. Nor shall we brook any libels upon our beloved Anna, whom we love dearly. - Yours, etc.,
Liffey Line Ltd.,
Ashford, Co. Wicklow.