Madam, - Senator Mary White mentions Sean Lemass and Brendan O'Regan in her contribution on the Shannon-Heathrow issue. Quite what relevance the historical achievements of these two great men have to the current debate eludes me. The Ireland of today, with open skies, full employment, a booming economy and a growing population, is far removed from the depressed country of the Lemass and O'Regan era.
In reflecting further on the protests from the Shannon lobby, I was minded of the protests when the IRFU mooted disbanding the Connacht professional rugby set-up in recent years. There was similar outrage from the west on this issue. What a pity that as many people still don't routinely attend Connacht rugby matches as were sufficiently exercised to take out their placards and march in Dublin at that time.
Finally, readers may remember the EU decision to end duty-free sales some years ago. Learned economists wrote reports at the time pointing out the huge negative effects this would have on Irish workers and the Irish economy. I suspect I am not alone in believing that when the the dust has settled, life in the west will not be quite as bad as some comments on the Shannon-Heathrow issue would suggest. - Yours, etc,
EAMONN O'REILLY, Glenageary, Co Dublin.