Madam, - Éamon Ó Cuív has recently passed a ministerial order declaring the name of Dingle null and void. He is now naming our town after some place in Offaly called "An Daingain".
Naturally, the people of Dingle are upset at this ministerial high-handedness. But we have been told, that if we don't like his new name for us, we can leave An Gaeltacht and revert back to our traditional name of Dingle.
The Ministers' attitude is impossible to understand. Does Mr Ó Cuív not appreciate that Dingle is proud of all its heritage, both its Gaeltacht tradition and its long historical tradition as Dingle Town. Dingle was granted an Elizabethan Charter from Queen Elizabeth I. It was a port for hundreds of years, trading with France and Spain. It has a Famine history. Its heritage is and immense.
Over the past 30 years it has become a tourist destination, and Dingle is a brand name that has taken a lot of years and hard work to develop.
Obviously, this name-change will lead to confusion for tourists visiting Dingle who are expected to understand that the strange signs in Tralee and Killarney for "An Daingain" are actually referring to Dingle.
But surely this question goes a little beyond confusing the tourists. If I was to build anything in Dingle town currently, I would have to get an archaeological survey done on my site, and have the Department of the Environment and the Office of Public Works pass my site in order to ensure that none of our historical heritage was being interfered with. Yet, here we have a Minister, who, with one stroke of a pen decides that Dingle as an entity, as a place of long historical and cultural heritage, no longer exists.
He wishes us to be renamed and rebranded according to his vision, and we the people of Dingle can do nothing about it.
I thought only conquering armies went around behaving like that. - Yours, etc,
KATE O'CONNOR,
Dingle Holiday Cottages,
Dingle,
Co Kerry.
Madam, - I read that the name Dingle has been replaced by the older name, now relatively little used.
Our last Donegal holidays were shortened because the placenames on the new maps were so changed that I could not be bothered to search for them in the more remote parts. If the authorities had even allowed the old place names to be shown in smaller type we could have managed.
Donegal has to struggle with difficult weather conditions. This new handicap must surely be a further deterrent to the enjoyment of its glorious environment. - Yours, etc,
Dr CONN McCLUSKEY,
Beechpark Road,
Foxrock,
Dublin 18.