Sir, - The Government decision to run an underground section of the LUAS from St Stephen's Green to Broadstone Station must have many Dublin residents asking, "where on earth is Broadstone Station?"
The answer is that it is opposite Gandon's Kings Inns at the point where Phibsborough Road becomes Constitution Hill, at the junction with Western Way.
The station building, described by Maurice Craig as "the last building in Dublin to partake of the sublime", is unique in Dublin's architectural heritage. Sadly, it has been obscured from view for many years by several rather ugly-looking commercially-owned buildings and by advertising hoardings on a site owned by CIE which also serves as an informal rubbish dump.
A local community group has been lobbying intensively for the past three years to have the vista of Broadstone Station restored as a prime visual amenity for the citizens of Dublin. But what happens? The very week in which the LUAS proposal is announced, CIE is about to replace the horrendous hoardings with another, more upto-date, illuminated set, apparently with gracious planning permission from Dublin Corporation. Meanwhile, CIE is trying to attract tourists onto its trains and Dublin Corporation is casting around for ideas to mark the millennium. What an irony! Civic consciousness, like charity, should begin at home! - Yours, etc., Jerry Crowley, Secretary,
Broadstone Area Revived, Dubin 7.