Madam, – There seems to be some confusion about Ireland’s endowment in natural resources. William A Thomas (Letters, October 28th) writes about “abundant gold and diamonds”. Now while small deposits of gold and gas have been found after almost a half-century of exploration by numerous mineral and petroleum companies, the only significant natural resource endowment we have confirmed are the currently-exploited deposits of zinc and lead in counties Meath, Tipperary and Kilkenny which are nearing the end of their production lives.
However, we also have indications of uranium deposits in counties Wicklow, Donegal and Carlow which have not been fully investigated. These could conceivably ensure our energy self-sufficiency for many years, but there is a ban on uranium exploration which prevents us even knowing the extent of these deposits.
This ban appears to be based on a confusion between nuclear power and atomic bombs, which is as misguided as confusing coal with dynamite. – Yours, etc,