A Chara, - Niall O'Carroll (December 15th) is right to highlight the groundbreaking initiative of Seán MacBride in regards to forestry during the first inter-party government (1948-1951). Any biography of MacBride which omitted this aspect of his achievement would be seriously flawed.
MacBride made two demands from his Taoiseach, John A Costello: "a vigorous forestation programme and a major cash input from the Irish Hospitals Sweeps for the provision of sanatoria for the eradication of tuberculosis".
My own biography of MacBride, published in 1993, and Eoin Neeson's A History of Irish Forestry (1991) treat in some detail MacBride's far-sighted work in forestation. Mr O'Carroll may know that the annual lecture on Irish Forestry is named after Seán MacBride. - Yours, etc,
ANTHONY JORDAN, Gilford Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4.