Sir, - What could be a more fitting start to the renewal of O'Connell Street than the statue of the man who gave his name to the street - the great Daniel O'Connell?Surely, it's an opportune time to mark the 150th anniversary of his death (so far unacknowledged by the city fathers or our Government). What a pity Daniel O'Connell didn't journey to Scotland and we might have been shamed into some commemoration, as happened with St Columcille!Let's hope our new Government will take the initiative with a commemorative stamp and an appropriate tribute to a great man who achieved so much by peaceful means. His oft-quoted credo: "the freedom of a nation is not worth the shedding of one drop of human blood", has been proved successful by Gandhi, some countries of Eastern Europe and in more recent times by Nelson Mandela. A plaque with this quotation could be erected on the O'Connell Monument as a tribute to a great pacifist. - Yours, etc.,KATHIE MURPHY,Castleknock,Dublin 15.