A chara, – Last Wednesday afternoon I had a meeting in Leinster House. As I left my office on Westmoreland Street at the quays I could have put ice skates on and skated all the way to Kildare Street. The ice was about two inches thick all the way along every footpath I travelled.
Lo and behold upon arriving at Leinster House I found the paths cleared and huge bags of rock salt sitting inside the gates. This after listening to Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey calling on the citizens and residents of the country to look after our neighbours, the elderly and the most vulnerable all at the same time that his Government is planning severe financial cuts to those most vulnerable in our society.
Having lived in a number of other capital cities during very snowy winters, nowhere have I ever seen residents treated with such contempt. The rainmakers of Leinster House can drive their cars directly to their offices and be assured that the foot paths are cleared for them to get to “work” while the rest of us risk life and limb making our way along the foot paths and walking miles because public transport is so delayed by the mess left on roads.
I sincerely hope that there are not massive numbers of injuries to people falling on the ice but in the event that there are I hope those people injured sue the pants off Brian Cowen and company. The State has a responsibility to proactively protect its citizens and that means from the severity of winter weather. In what other country would a capital city be left in such a state? Perhaps in addition to money to bail us out some of our European neighbours could also give our politicians some lessons in how to respect and protect the citizens and residents of their country. – Is mise,
Madam, – One cannot fail to notice the dislocation of the four- year plan, the IMF and the upcoming budget from the main news headline position. Is this a whitewash? – Yours, etc,