Madam, - With respect to the ongoing Tara/M3 controversy, it appears that we are going to fling a unique and priceless vase to the ground just because it does not meet the immediate need for a sturdy plastic bucket.
There is no reason why we cannot preserve the beauty and fragility of the one while also having regard for the necessity of the other. However, it appears that this generation of decision-makers, and by extension voters, is going to go down in history as the one which was not only not smart enough to figure out how to have both, but chose the bucket over the vase.
Which will be worth more in the long term? By building roads so as to divert as much traffic as possible away from Dublin and the commuter belt, the traffic problems in the region could be substantially mitigated, and at the same time the traffic flow between other points around the country could be vastly improved, contributing to regional development. We could have all that and leave Tara intact.
Instead, by increasing capacity on radial routes in and out of Dublin and adding another orbital route to join them we will create a stronger magnet for local and national traffic. In other words, we are replicating an unsuccessful model on a grander scale. It is a temporary fix which will bring a short-lived high and then, under the present planning regime, it will also give rise to further car-dependent sprawl and thus be self-defeating on many levels.
It's not just about Tara, there are many other reasons why we need to do better than this. - Yours, etc,
CHARLES BAGWELL, Millbrook, Straffan, Co Kildare.