Sir, – I wonder at the reopening of the Garda station in Stepaside. There must be very little crime in that neighbourhood if gardaí need a roof over their heads. Maybe they need somewhere to stop off for a cup of coffee and a bun? And of course they could be busy validating passport photos from time to time. Here in Tipperary we like to see our gardaí out on the roads in their cars, patrolling the area and ready to drive immediately to the scene of a problem. – Yours, etc,
ANNE STRAHAN,
Ballynonty, Co Tipperary.
Sir, – Public and political suspicions about how Stepaside Garda station came to be the first-named station to be reopened are without foundation and constitute unwarranted cynicism. It has nothing to do with the fact that Stepaside is located in the constituency of Minister for Transport Shane Ross. Ever since Dr James Reilly developed a truly brilliant, objective system for locating primary care centres, a system called “logistical logarithmic progressions”, we can all rest assured that decisions about locating public services have been entirely depoliticised. – Yours, etc,
EDDIE MOLLOY,
Rathgar, Dublin 6.
Sir, – Is it time for the parish pump to step aside? – Yours, etc,
CLARE BALFE,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – I am baffled by the lack of transparency regarding the reason for selecting only Stepaside Garda station for reopening. It is as if we have been told, “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, flies like a duck and sounds like a duck, then it must be a fish”. – Regards, etc,
DERMOT O’ROURKE
Lucan, Co Dublin.