Madam, - When Ireland was part of the British Empire we had in the Dun Laoghaire area three public baths: one in Blackrock, one in Dun Laoghaire, one in Sandycove. We are independent state now and one of the richest countries in Europe, yet we have not maintained a single one of these public baths.
Surely we are missing out on one of the greatest amenities in the area for everybody - schoolchildren, mothers and toddlers, visitors. Here in Dun Laoghaire we could have the finest public baths on the eastern seaboard, with indoor and outdoor pools, health and sports facilities, a restaurant, a small marine museum, an entertainment area and a viewing platform. We have the Dart for transport from the city.
Yes, we could have all that without having to spend exorbitant amount of money. But no, most of the Dun Laoghaire councillors have very elaborate plans with 180 apartments - one hundred and eighty! - and car-parking spaces.
This is our seafront, a seafront for everybody. Our guardians - TDs and councillors - are about to sell our seafront for private again. Where is our social conscience, our national pride and our democracy? - Yours, etc,
IMOGEN STUART RHA, Sandycove, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Kevin Myers (An Irishman's Diary, May 13th) is to be applauded from the rooftops for highlighting the proposed plans for Dun Laoghaire seafront, which he rightly described as "one of the best-loved features of the entire island of Ireland". It is indeed incomprehensible that Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council intends to dump a 5.5 acre apartment complex on four acres, including reclaimed land, along Scotsman's Bay.
To think the public should be asked to support the building of a complex with a glass tower stretching 10 storeys high is startling. While the badly run-down site of what was for many years the much-loved Dun Laoghaire baths is a carbuncle on the seafront horizon, it allows no justification for the local council to abandon a national treasure for private greed.
It is incumbent on people near and far to resist this proposed monstrosity with extreme prejudice. - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL CULLEN, Albert Park, Sandycove, Co Dublin.