Sir, - After visiting the Dublin Street Carnival and the St Patrick's Day parade, I am finally incensed enough to write a long-overdue letter concerning the filth of our capital city.
When arrangements are being made for these events, does it never occur to anyone to provide extra litter bins or arrange for a workforce to clean up the streets on an ongoing basis to try to keep on top of the inevitable problem? I saw rubbish piled high around the few bins available and the rest allowed to blow around the streets.
I'm not suggesting that the streets are clean at any stage during the year, but obviously the problem is highlighted during events such as this. It seems ridiculous that, at a time when we know there are going to be so many visitors to the city, that no apparent effort is made to keep the city clean.
I join Tom Cavanagh, Irish Business Against Litter, to ask - no, demand, that Noel Dempsey tell us when he and his Government colleagues are going to start giving this problem the attention it demands and ultimately do the jobs they are elected to do.
No doubt, the excuse will be down to lack of funds, yet we can find £3 million to erect a spire on O'Connell Street, the level of support for which among the public I would question.
It would be more apt, in my opinion, to mark the start of the new millennium with a cleaner environment. I am only too aware of the rubbish problem in every other area and the fact that it's nearly impossible to go for a walk on our streets without stepping in mounds of dog dirt.
I would now ask Noel Dempsey to let us know, through the medium of your newspaper, what he intends to do about our filthy streets. - Yours, etc.,
Anne O'Flaherty, Grosvenor Court, Clontarf, Dublin 3.