Sir, - Yet again we were urged to post early for Christmas. The latest dates of posting advertised by An Post indicated that we had to post letters to Northern Ireland three days earlier than those for non-local addresses anywhere in the Republic. This may actually be an improvement on last year and many letters posted after the recommended date do arrive in time. However, this exhortation is yet another indication of how publicly owned services use the existence of the Border as an excuse for inferior service.
Despite all the lip-service paid to cross-Border co-operation little is being done to rectify these problems. Proper cross-Border services, where they exist, usually result from long-standing arrangements or from EU co-ordinated arrangements which apply throughout Europe.
The situation is not improving. Indeed, new services are frequently less well co-ordinated than existing ones. New telecommunications facilities, for example mobile or digital services, are not as well integrated as the traditional telephone service. Why can there not be a truly island-wide mobile telephone or freephone service? What requirements for seamless cross-Border services are stated when licences are issued for new services? The problem is that in the minds of the bureaucrats who organise our public services the Border is no less a boundary to their area of interest than the Atlantic Ocean.
From this limited perspective, regions such as North Monaghan or South Armagh are "remote", as if they were isolated peninsulas. One consequence of this approach is that the sick in Border areas are brought by ambulance not to the nearest hospital, but to the nearest hospital on the same side of the Border. As hospital services are rationalised and centralised away from the Border, this could lead to substantial delays in seriously ill people reaching medical care.
This situation reflects badly on the two governments. A great deal of attention is paid to the need for symbolic institutions, which are not being welcomed by the unionist community. A greater emphasis on practical arrangements would present a less threatening picture. As our politicians work in the New Year to reduce the political divisions in our island they should also make a resolution to reduce some of the practical consequences of this division. - Yours, etc.,
Peter Keenan,
Marsham Court, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.