Sir, - The success of the Tidy Towns competition and its positive effect on Ireland's towns and villages are phenomenal. However, as a conservation body, we have long felt that a conservation element should be added to the criteria for winning.
The charming, relatively intact 18th-century square in Clonakilty (the overall winner this year), as shown in your paper (September 14th), shows clearly the detrimental effect, aesthetically and historically, of PVC and outward-opening windows. This type of window is also very off-putting for the discerning visitor who comes to view our much vaunted Georgian heritage.
The new Green Town competition announced for 2000 may well address this type of problem; a new conservation category would certainly be most welcome. The use of synthetic windows (which can actually cause serious problems in old houses) is by no means confined to Clonakilty, where, as it happens, steps are being taken to persuade owners to replace PVC windows with appropriate timber sash windows. It would be a major step forward if this type of action was encouraged throughout the State by the Tidy Towns competition. - Yours, etc.,
Mary Bryan, Conservation Officer, Irish Georgian Society, Merrion Square, Dublin 2.