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On the dangers of rats
Dear Editor,
George Monbiot’s article Apocalypto (pages
- Village No ) told of the collapse of
Easter Island ‘s ecology due to humans cut-
ting down trees to make ever bigger statues.
This is drawn from Jared Diamond’s book
‘Collapse’ () where Easter Island’s ec-
ological collapse is used as a metaphor for
what lies ahead, worst case scenario, for our
own future.
We now know, due to the work of anthro-
pologist Terry Hunt and others, that the main
cause of Easter Island’s problems was rats,
specifically the Polynesian rat, which the ear-
ly settlers introduced. Without predators and
a vast food supply, the rat population grew
and reached a peak of an estimated twen-
ty million in the years -. They de-
stroyed other animals, vegetation and most
importantly the tree seeds.
This is an important discovery. Invasive al-
ien species, especially rats in islands, are the
cause long term and serious changes in eco-
systems. Ireland is no exception, and there is
now a website for those seriously interested
in the ecological battles against such invaders
- www.invasivespeciesireland.com.
By the way the rat on your cover in Febru-
ary was the brown rat, not the black rat - rat-
tus rattus - as you stated in your editorial!
Yours faithfully
Dr Paddy Sleeman,
Meadow Park Lawn, Ballyvolane, Cork
On the evils of immigrant students
Dear Editor,
Nicola Carroll, Head of the International
Office, National College of Ireland, wrote
in your June edition on the subject of for-
eign students.
She lauds the contribution of foreign stu-
dents and bemoans the visa restrictions,
which limit their numbers. But her logic
is faulty from start to finish. She begins
with the untruth, which government also
peddles: “Every year €m is brought into
the Irish economy by international third
level students from outside the EU”. To a
very large degree, this money is definitely
not “brought into the Irish economy”. It is
earned here by those foreign students. It
comes from this economy.
Miriam Donohue, in the Irish Times, back in
February , wrote of how Chinese students
borrowed funds from their relatives to show
sufficient resources for their stay here and re-
turned it to them as soon as they had their visa,
funding themselves by their earnings here.
There has been plenty of evidence adduced
over recent years that many of the “student
visas” are purely to work in the economy; a
back-door entry. This and overstaying, is a
problem as the Department of Justice has ad-
mitted (Report on Internationalisation of Irish
Education Services, Department of Education
and Science, November ). In relation to
visa refusal they say, “The solution to this is-
sue must be based on prevention of illegal im-
migration through proper screening and se-
lection of students. Deportation can only play
a limited role as it is a labour intensive, time
consuming, and costly process”.
Very amusingly, Ms Carroll asks, “Will they
take our jobs?”, and then says, “No. Rudimen-
tary mathematics calculates that for every
students in public sector institutions alone,
eight jobs are created through providing ac-
commodation, public transport use, food, en-
tertainment, utilities etc”. It seems to escape
her notice that far more than eight jobs, closer
to the , will be taken up by those students.
It is estimated that there are about
, Chinese in Ireland. This is a phe-
nomenal figure. I take it as a given that we
have not agreed to give residency on an on-
going basis to more than a small fraction of
that. “Student visas” are not the only cause
of this illegal immigration but they must be
a big part of it.
Ms. Carroll wants more customers for the
service she provides. We take the longer term
view and want strict immigration control.
Yours faithfully,
Aine Ni Chonaill, PRO, Immigration Control
Platform, PO Box , Dublin .
On the inadequacy of Dublin City
Council’s bicycle for billboards scheme
Dear Editor,
I consider it important your readers be made
aware of basic facts regarding Dublin’s JC De-
caux’s bikes-for-billboards scheme now mate-
rialising in Dublin City, as first clumsy moving
billboards, and now belated, and insufficient
bike-stands.
The potential revenue to JC Decaux is
around € million for the scheme; it costs
€, per fortnight to hire out one of four ad-
vert spaces on any one of the mainly dual-
aspect larger billboards, while the smaller
units charge € per moving advert.
None of this money goes to the city coun-
cil. Moreover had JC Decaux been able to de-
velop the units they wanted, the potential
revenue over the years of the scheme could
have been € million - enough to build one
of the two Luas lines.
Of the billboard units, about are
known to have potential safety deficiencies, ei-
ther by dint of obscuring motorist’s sight lines,
or their location on stretches of road prioritised
by the gardaí owing to poor safety records.
Many of the new billboards carry alcohol
advertising outside child-focused areas, in-
cluding the Crumlin Children’s Hospital, and
outside schools and libraries at Dorset Street,
Ballymun, and other areas.
The billboards were primarily developed
in less-affluent northside areas - with none in
Donnybrook, Ranelagh, or Sandymount. In
contrast % of the rental bicycle stations are
located in the southside, Dublin area.
One has to wonder whether Official Ireland
would have paid more attention had the loca-
tions been reversed.
Yours faithfully,
Ruadhán MacEoin,
Mountjoy Square, Dublin
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