Madam, - I write in relation to the letter of August 24th from Sean Dunne of Mountbrook Homes concerning the development of sites in Ballsbridge. I am a resident of the area and feel an enormous sense of disappointment that Mr Dunne's plans have been rejected.
Ballsbridge is a great area, but it could be a lot better and Mr Dunne's plan to turn the site of the Berkeley Court/Jurys into its new social hub is an inspired one. It seems plain that such a development, as well as the rebuilding of a magnificent new Lansdowne Road stadium, will benefit property owners in the area, creating plenty of jobs and significantly increasing the value of local homes in the long run.
What has saddened me, though I won't say I am surprised, has been the barely disguised scorn that Mr Dunne's ambitious plans have generated and the even more pronounced glee that has followed the planners' rejection of his scheme. In America such ambition is celebrated and such dreams aspired to by many. In this country, the pursuit of grand plans is sneered at and those who pursue them are willed to fail.
Irish people love to congratulate themselves on the Celtic Tiger phenomenon, but with the culture of begrudgery so deeply ingrained in our national psyche, I fear we shall never come even close to achieving our potential as a country. - Yours, etc,
ARTHUR RYAN, Lansdowne Road, Dublin 4.
Madam, - Thank god for Irish Times readers like David P. Jameson (August 28th) as he is probably the only one in the entire country to have read Seán Dunne's letter of August 24th. Mr Dunne should learn that readers generally prefer short letters to long ones and low buildings to high ones. - Yours, etc,
TONY MacGABHANN,
Herbert Road,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.