Olympic 2012 bandwagon

Madam, - I hope the Government will resist the calls from leading athletes, sporting organisations and construction companies…

Madam, - I hope the Government will resist the calls from leading athletes, sporting organisations and construction companies to resuscitate the Abbotstown complex and invest our money in élite sporting facilities in the hope we can jump on the coat-tails of London's successful bid to hold the Olympics.

If we are to invest money in sport (and we should), this money should be spent on facilities for people in Ireland, not a few millionaire visitors who will be here for a short while in early 2012. Hundreds of millions could be spent ensuring we all have playing fields, sports halls and swimming pools within easy reach. This investment would be repaid many times over, as our health service would not then have to deal with so many illnesses causes by obesity in our population.

And with such investment we would be likely to see more Irish athletes competing in London 2012. - Yours, etc,

EOIN O'MALLEY, Lynton Court, Merrion Road, Dublin 4.