Sir , - A New Year visit to the Glen of the Downs has left me stunned with disbelief. A handful of half-frozen protesters are trying to alert us that the "authorities" are extending a major road through the heart of a nature reserve. The glen is one of the few areas of outstanding beauty we have left, but do we care? We are fond of pious statements about the environment, but when it comes to making a choice we usually favour the machine.
Why is it such a big deal to expect traffic to slow down for a few hundred yards? It will be to our everlasting shame if we begin the new millennium by allowing this destructive project to go ahead. - Yours etc.,
Patrick Quigley, Coolmine Court, Dublin 15.