Madam, - You have been kind enough in the past to publish in your distinguished columns letters from me (and from many readers who share my convictions) urging the relocation of the Abbey Theatre to the site of the Carlton Cinema in O'Connell Street. I do so once again at a moment of renewed crisis because the matter is of such importance for the cultural identity of Ireland.
All I read in The Irish Times by way of reply are reports of legal intransigence, governmental indifference, and administrative and financial incompetence. I read them with continuing dismay and incredulity.
I have no vested interest in O'Connell Street or the Abbey Theatre. I am a foreigner in your midst (even worse, perhaps, I am a Englishman). Though not a regular reader of the Guardian myself, I share the view of its recent editorial (July 22nd) that "the Abbey is historically the most important theatre company in the English-speaking world".
Economic prosperity alone is not sufficient for the well-being of a nation. Do not give up on the very meaning of Ireland itself. - Yours, etc,
GERALD MORGAN,
Arts Building,
Trinity College,
Dublin 2.