David Norris – the word on the street

Sir, – David Norris's article (Property, March 30th) outlining his four decades of Herculean effort to protect and restore Dublin's North Great George's Street was nothing short of inspiring.

While I was gratified to be mentioned by Senator Norris as the source of early funding for his campaign of renewal for this magnificent street, I must clarify that the organisation I represented was the Heritage Trust, a body funded by Irish financial and commercial firms, and not a State agency, the Heritage Council, which in any case did not come into existence until 1995.

The Heritage Trust, the brainchild of Nicholas Robinson and others, was originally established in 1976 to support An Taisce, the National Trust for Ireland, and can count among its many successful projects the establishment of the Environmental Institute at University College Dublin, initial funding for the Irish Architectural Archive, and a range of environmental and conservation initiatives throughout Ireland (some 60 in all), including, of course, the untiring work of David Norris and his fellow residents of North Great George’s Street.

It was a real pleasure for me to walk up that street recently with my granddaughter and to show her the splendid results of 40 years of “the Norris effect”. – Yours, etc,

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LEWIS CLOHESSY,

Kilbride,

Blessington, Co Wicklow.