Sir, - The theft of the paintings from Russborough House offers an interesting insight into the relative value we place on people and possessions. A few weeks after the tragic discovery of Paul McQuaid's body and the attendant controversy over the allocation of Garda resources, I find it remarkable that some 55 garda∅ have been assigned to the Russborough case. A similar level of effort in the McQuaid search would at least have shortened the agonising wait his family and friends undoubtedly endured.
If I might offer a suggestion to those detectives working the case, it is this: you might as well look in Wicklow Street as Wicklow for the paintings. - Yours, etc.,
David King, St Alphonsus Road, Drumcondra, Dublin 9.