Sir, - May I congratulate The Irish Times for its appropriate and socially-informed reaction to the Chapelizod bypass accident (Editorial, November 7th).
Am I too pessimistic in fearing that our authorities will not have the foresight to capitalise on something stumbled upon by the youngsters themselves that keeps them out of trouble? If they did, and if they invested also in some other education and integration measures, people with property could sleep more soundly in their beds. For example, farmland on the outskirts of the city that is being vandalised to the extent that it is no longer usable as such could be bought by the authorities and turned into stables and paddocks for the urban cowboys. Alternatively, the farmers could receive subsidies to do it themselves. Everybody would stand to gain.
True, it would cost a good deal of public money, but what about the infinitely greater cost of the present public and private security measures and the cost of keeping a youngster in St Patrick's Institution and later in Mountjoy Prison, not to mention the blighted lives? After all, didn't the State give a sizeable grant to Mr Smurfit's K-Club for millionaire golfers? - Yours, etc.,
Acorn Road, Dublin 16.