Sir, – Pat Mullen (Letters, February 13th) succinctly captures how utterly car dependent "rural Ireland" really is, and how negatively it is affected by that same dependency. That is, one cannot even go for a walk near one's house without running the gauntlet of speeding vehicles. Even to go for a safe walk, you need to drive to it.
Of course, the supreme irony is that one of the main reasons often cited by people choosing to self-build in the countryside; remote from the “luxuries” of infrastructure, such as footpaths, is bucolic quiet and quality of life. Perhaps if there was a right to roam things might be different. But rural residents often cannot even take advantage of the countryside on their doorstep. – Yours, etc,
GAVIN DALY,
Dublin 1.