Sir, – It is sad but necessary to introduce a note of gloom to the occasionally lighthearted debate on the Letters page of The Irish Times on the future of the Poolbeg chimneys in Dublin.
They should be let stand as they are. Before too long the rising sea will lap against the walls of the generator buildings; a relatively few years after that, they will have become totally submerged. When all the Antarctic ice has melted, the total sea level rise is estimated to be of the order of 70m. Most of what was Dublin will lie beneath the waves while far out on the greatly expanded Dublin Bay the two chimneys will jut from the sea, a memorial to the once great metropolis below, and a symbol of the processes that caused that catastrophe. – Yours, etc,
MICK BOURKE, Clane, Co Kildare.
Sir, – Have we completely lost sight of what is important in society. The health service, the homeless and affordable housing should be higher on our list of priorities than two defunct chimneys that will require millions of public money thrown at them. I despair. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL ORR, Blackrock, Co Dublin.