All posts tagged: letters

Letter: Filming On Skellig Michael

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My letter to the Editor regarding how we treat heritage in Ireland, published July 30 2014. Sir, – It is now more than 10 years since Martin Cullen TD abolished Dúchas, the Heritage Service. Our national and built monuments are not adequately protected. When I questioned the OPW decision to allow filming on Skellig Michael, a general response was “it’s about jobs”. In the deep recession of the ’80s the OPW partnered with private agencies and owners to train young people in heritage protection and craft skills (stonework, wood-carving and preservation). These were jobs and skills geared toward protecting and conserving our heritage.   In the 10 years since the abolition of Dúchas, 39 sites in Tara were demolished to facilitate the M3 toll road. There are robberies of stunning stonework and the job of Dúchas has been divided between the Department of the Environment and the OPW.   Heritage is not adequately protected. We are not training the young in conservation techniques and we have no statutory agency for protecting our natural and built …

My Letter to The Irish Times, regarding Fianna Fáil Conservation policies

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This letter , published 3rd of January 2011, is regarding a lack of balance in policy initiatives by the current Irish government, who have not in my opinion balanced their environmental ‘policies’ with an ethos of conservation. I thought to publish it here and will migrate it onto a conservation page when I have that set up. I have added in a related link regarding the destruction of the Gabhra Valley (at Tara) at the base of this post. Buying land for roads hit by cutbacks Madam, – I find myself unsurprised by Frank McDonald’s report (Home News, December 27th) regarding the National Roads Authority’s buying of farmland. (The article states that an environmental group claims the National Roads Authority is continuing to buy up farmland for road schemes that no longer have Government approval due to cutbacks in the capital spending programme). The NRA appears to be about the only statutory agency in Ireland that has had any power in construction terms. Between 2001 and 2010 the Fianna Fáil ­ government set about abolishing …

Anne Hays, a letter to the New Yorker Magazine.

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The following letter by Anne Hays was published on Facebook  on January 2nd 2011, and since  it is a day for correspondences , I thought to link it herein. Thus far the letter has had 31 likes, numerous replies, and is linked onto Twitter via VIDA, women in the literary arts. January 2nd, 2011 The New Yorker 4 Times Square, 20th Floor New York, NY 10036 Dear Editors of the New Yorker, “I am writing to express my alarm that this is now the second issue of the NYer in a row where only two (tiny) pieces out of your 76 page magazine are written by women.  The January 3rd, 2011 issue features only a Shouts & Murmurs (Patricia Marx) and a poem (Kimberly Johnson).  Every other major piece—the fiction, the profile, and all the main nonfiction pieces—is written by a man.  Every single critic is a male writer. We were already alarmed when we flipped through the Dec 20th & 27th double-issue to find that only one piece (Nancy Franklin) and one poem (Alicia …

Statement by Arundhati Roy on 31/10/2010.

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Apologies for linking to this statement rather late and I know that it is all over the web, I think that it should also be linked here, so I am adding the  Fatima Bhutto  Twitlonger  link that  some Irish writers  posted and shared on Sunday evening (31/10/2010). The entire statement is added just beneath this following excerpt : SOMETHING FOR THE MEDIA TO THINK ABOUT  :  (Tweeted by Fatima Bhutto 31/10/2010) : “A mob of about a hundred people arrived at my house at 11 this morning (Sunday, October 31, 2010.) They broke through the gate and vandalized property. They shouted slogans against me for my views on Kashmir, and threatened to teach me a lesson. The OB Vans of NDTV, Times Now and News 24 were already in place ostensibly to cover the event live. TV reports say that the mob consisted largely of members of the BJP’s Mahila Morcha (Women’s wing). After they left, the police advised us to let them know if in future we saw any OB vans hanging around the neighborhood because …