Madam, - Further to Frank McDonald's report (June 3rd) on the request which the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources has received from An Taisce - this talk of further infill of Dublin Bay is like a recurring decimal.
Mention of Dublin Port's wish to fill in a further 52 acres of the bay has kept appearing in print since the '80s. The danger is that people may become accustomed to reading about it, and it may appear inevitable. What we need to read in The Irish Times is further accurate information about all the acres filled in since the 1960s and the effects on visual and practical amenities.
The enormity of the reclamations and their effects have never been clearly recorded for us; nor the probable effect of further infill of the waters of the bay, and on the swing of the tides. Their curtailment is contributing to the drying-out effect of the former strands, especially at Sutton and Sandymount, a matter which can be readily evidenced by anyone taking time to walk and observe. This evidence is of some value - provided that, like the writer, they can remember times when they once paddled or swam where now giant cranes or mud flats have appeared! - Yours, etc.,
A. FITZGERALD,
Mount Merrion Avenue,
Blackrock,
Co. Dublin.