Madam, - I have just returned from a slide on Sandymount strand - unfortunately, not at the "Go Skate" centre installed for winter fun in nearby Booterstown, but on the beach itself.
During summer there is a plentiful growth of algae in the nutrient-rich waters of Dublin Bay. In autumn the algae dies and is washed up on the beach, where it putrefies over several months. The resulting smell this autumn was so persistent and vile that several neighbours found it difficult to sleep.
In previous years Dublin City Council found a man and a tractor among its many thousands of employees to tackle the problem. But not this year! The irony is that most local residents believe the smell is the result of the faulty operation of the sewage treatment system completed in recent years. Not surprisingly their opposition to the proposed waste incinerator at Poolbeg has redoubled.
An own goal by the council for the sake of a man and a tractor. - Yours, etc,
KEVIN KAVANAGH, Merrion Strand, Sandymount, Dublin 4.