Sir, - I recently returned to Dublin with a group of 150 cyclists, many like myself who live in London, and spent most of my time having to tell them to look on the bright side, it only takes 30 minutes to get out beyond the pollution. There is no doubt that the air in Dublin is even more polluted than that in London; I had always presumed it was the other way around.
To read that there are moves afoot by road lobbyists to try to mess up the LUAS plan shouldn't surprise me, but it does worry me. Dublin has experienced a regeneration through tourism, service business and light manufacturing. Tourists come there for a change from their cities, which are overrun by private auto planning and useless for people and the movement of goods. Cities thrive on people doing business in them, not on cars. Access for people has to have priority over the selfishness or lethargy of the individual.
Tourists come to Ireland because it's sold as the great unspoilt destination. Spoil it, and don't be surprised when they don't come to visit your industrial estate or car park. More projects such as the LUAS would help to give not only great transport links, they help to define a positive and individual identity for a city. Cars don't achieve this, they merely damage your city and your balance of payments deficit. - Yours, etc.,
Herne Hill,
London.