Sir, - Have you noticed recently just how shabby the fleet of Dublin buses has become? I realise that at this time of year the task of keeping the buses clean becomes as hard as a January frost, but despite this I believe that someone's eye is not on the ball. Only today I noticed a number 10 winding its way past that magnificent centre of learning, Trinity College. The bus was filthy and, yes, the predictable "wash me" graffiti had been inscribed on the back. What must have been running through the minds of the team of Japanese tourists who were standing outside the main gates. Heaven knows, but I'm sure their thoughts are as unprintable as they are incomprehensible.
I'm not one to complain normally - many is the dry piece of chicken that has passed these lips under silent protest - but really it is time somebody said: "Come on, Dublin Bus, you can do better than this." Isn't there enough dirt in our modern society without standing by and watching this type of thing pass by? How are the buses in Cork, Galway or Limerick getting on? I'd be interested to know. - Yours, etc.,
Mark Nutley, Abercorn Square, Inchicore, Dublin 8.