Sir, - I was somewhat heartened to read recent correspondence about the litter in Dublin. Sometimes it seems that no one even notices that there is a problem.
As bad as the litter in the capital is, it is more horrifying to cycle the quiet lanes and climb the mountains of Connemara, as I did this Easter, and see farm waste, household rubbish and old fridges everywhere, even in the most remote places. Hedgerows are plastered with plastic bags. Bottles and cans lie on the verges. Plastic bottles float in the rivers. Even mountain tops are ruined by the debris of bikers picnics.
I despair that anything can, be done about this problem, but it is obvious that it is not the fault of county or corporation clean up services. The blame lies with the apparent majority of Irish people, who see nothing wrong with throwing their rubbish from car windows, dropping it in the streets and making trips to the countryside to leave their filth.
Perhaps the only argument that may have an effect is the economic one. When tourists from countries who do not use their backyard as a rubbish dump return home with impressions of a beautiful landscape marred by garbage, the visitors will stop coming.
I am not native to these shores and if the Irish themselves do not care, then perhaps I have no right to comment. But Ireland is my home now, and it makes me very sad and very angry to see this glorious part of the world blighted through people's irresponsible and selfish behaviour. The beauty of Ireland is disappearing under a sea of rubbish. - Yours, etc.
Dunluce Road,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3