Sir, - Of course the Sheedy case is a very serious matter requiring the judges' resignations, but we should bear in mind that they are, to some extent, the scapegoats for a political, legal and enforcement system seriously lacking integrity with regard to road safety - in effect, a system that regards crimes committed by motorists as less blameworthy than other forms of crime.
Consequently, we have a culture of disregard for the rules of the road and something like a fatalistic acceptance that the present figure of (approximately) 500 deaths annually will probably increase.
There is talk of a constitutional crisis averted, of politicians heaving sighs of relief. In other words, the carnage on our roads can go on, just don't rock our boat. Maybe the media could extend their coverage of the Sheedy case to give us the statistics on the appropriateness, or otherwise, of other sentences handed down recently for killing or maiming by car. - Yours, etc., Cecilia McGovern,
Wellington Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.