Sir, – The jailing of Teresa Treacy is an all-time low for Irish democracy. Ms Treacy poses no threat to anyone, but she is now languishing in Mountjoy simply because the ESB is unwilling to follow the lead of other European nations and place their high-voltage cables underground.
The ESB is totally out of order in using such a heavy–handed approach which has resulted in this innocent woman being sent to jail for simply protecting the trees on her land. They could so easily have put these high-voltage lines underground, which would have made much more sense from both a health and environmental perspective.
The ESB may think it has won this battle but Teresa Treacy’s courage has lit a flame which will keep burning. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Was Teresa Treacy more or less contemptuous of the justice system than those who have brought the country to its current distressed state? Was her direct, honest, open “No” more contemptuous than the behind-the-hand, lawyer-cushioned, muttered “No” with which we have become so familiar? – Yours, etc,