AN OLD example of chutzpah is a man convicted of murdering his parents pleading for leniency on the grounds of being an orphan.

An updated Irish definition might be an absentee landlord citing the approval of Michael Davitt for his stated intention to destroy a beautiful public park (Dartmouth Square) for his own aggrandisement.

Noel O'Gara made just such a claim in his interview (Review, 17 September).

However, the famous 'Three Fs' which summarised the campaign of Davitt's Land League, were clearly not intended to establish unfettered freedom for wealthy property owners to do with their land as they wished.

On the contrary, the demands for Fair Rent, Fixity of Tenure and Freedom of Sale effectively sought to circumscribe the absolute property rights of landowners to apprise them of their responsibilities to the greater public good and to achieve some balance of fair-ness with other stakeholders.

Far from being a "small farmer with a few bits of property, " as he describes himself, O'Gara is in fact a wealthy land speculator who has more in common with the landlord class of the 19th century which he claims to despise, than with the common man of the 21st, on whose side your article laughingly purports to place him.

He is completely heedless of the effects of his actions on those who live near his property and has had no qualms about disparaging them frequently and unfairly in media inter-views, not least in your paper.

Similarly, he is not above insulting other disinterested groups, notably the Travelling community (who to their credit told him to sling his hook) and, in your paper last week, the people of Clondalkin.

All for the purpose of portraying Dublin 6 residents as selfish villains who expect to avail, at the expense of the public, of a private park from which they will exclude people not to their liking.

This is a travesty of the truth as the park was open to all until O'Gara padlocked it and barricaded it prior to announc-ing his intention to build upon it.

I am at a loss to understand how a man who so blatantly seeks to enrich himself to the detriment of the general public, and who has been so quick to misrepresent history, should meet with such approval from your staff.

The opening paragraph describes him as acting for the public benefit (without providing a scrap of supporting evidence), your pull quote allows him to repeat the lie that the park at Dartmouth Square was only available to the residents of the square, and the author urges us in the concluding sentence to "wish [O'Gara] well in his endeavours."

I suspect Michael Davitt would have urged a complete boycott of this grasping opportunist. And that he would have been horrified by the Sunday Tribune's hero worship of him.

David D'Arcy, Percy Lane, Dublin 4.

Junior Cert students . . . not all on the rampage From A O'Rourke WITH reference to Isabel Hayes's article "How to handle drinkf and teens" (News, 17 September), how dare she write that 58,000 rampaging 15year-olds took to the streets to celebrate . . . what RUBBISH!

My 15-year-old did his Junior Cert, got good results and on Wednesday night went to train for the Irish racquetball team (which he is on) who fly to Arizona USA on 13 December 2006 to play for their country.

Do not tar all Junior Cert students with the one brush.

Remember that as parents in this country, we do care what our children are doing and are proud to have such fantastic, eager, wonderful children.

As a matter of interest, our family celebration was a family meal out, the location of which we let our son decide.

A O'Rourke, Kingscourt, Cavan.

Moyross residents get poor representation From Maurice Quinlivan YOUR correspondent Conor McMorrow makes an attempt (News, 17 September) to explain the bizarre situation of how the Limerick City Council estates of Delmege Park, Pineview Gardens and Cravel Park in Moyross are actually in Limerick County Council.

Your readers may be interested to note a survey we in Sinn Fein conducted this summer in the three estates to determine under which council's jurisdiction the residents wanted to be.

That survey reveals a clear wish on the part of the residents to be able to vote for city councillors who would be more responsive to their needs; indeed, almost 93% want to be in the city. What is particularly worrying is that, with the way things are at present, nearly 93% of residents are unsure of which local election area they are in, and close to 97% of residents don't know who their county councillors are.

This situation really is quite scandalous as it denies residents their right to a voice at local government level.

I have called for urgent action to be taken to address this serious anomaly. The present situation, where several hundred homes are owned by Limerick City Council, but nevertheless fall within the area of Co Limerick, is patently absurd. The present boundary means that residents in those parts of Moyross which are in the county are poorly represented by their councillors and largely ignored by the county council. This lack of commitment to the residents and their needs is all too plain to see in the lack of local services provision.

Such an adjustment to the boundary would not have major financial implications for Limerick County Council, as there is little or no rates' revenue from the area concerned, and even refuse collection is in the hands of private firms.

Limerick County Council has confirmed that it has no objection in principle to the move. We await action by the environment minister Dick Roche.

Whilst we still await action from him, the local residents suffer by effectively having no local representation.

Maurice Quinlivan, Stenson Close, Limerick.

Dubs forced out of city by decentralisation From John Donohoe

OVER the past couple of years I see less and less Dubs in Dublin.

I'm sure this has something to do with decentralisation. Many of these people did not want to leave their native city and were practically forced out by unjust policies.

I would like to remind everyone who the first person was to introduce decentralisation: it was Oliver Cromwell. I wonder if Ahern or McDowell are direct descendants of this most famous of roundheads?

Foreign nationals should be getting more money than they're earning. Soon there won't be enough Irish people left in Dublin to tell them they are actually being conned.

Irish people could not work for such low wages; for this reason, more and more Dubliners are leaving the city.

There is enough room for everybody in Dublin, including the Dubs.

John Donohoe, Rialto, Dublin 8.

Adult shops provide a valuable service From Dr John Keogh I HAVE been holding back some anger now for weeks in relation to how the media have been playing 'up' reports of some seriously troubled religious fanatics protesting outside an 'adult' store on the north city of Dublin. This bible and bead bashing group is nothing but a small bunch of frustrated eccentric men and women with a total religious obsession with 'sex'.

Some were instrumental in having a professional nightclub closed down in Parnell Street, citing that it was lowering the tone of the area. Surely that street had to benefit from anything new going in, as no retail trader would touch it for 30 years. This street has become very much an 'ethnic' retail area. Are these foreign nationals to be forced out as well? Having a topclass nightclub and a legitimate business squeezed out, in my opinion, is an utter disgrace.

Much media coverage was given to preventing an adult store on O'Connell Street from opening.

The stress and energy put into preventing this store opening by our city officials, councillors, local groups and business groups was another disgrace. Now, this store is happily trading, always looks presentable and is providing a necessary retail service to the community.

I read (News, 17 September) that local groups are again getting their proverbials in a twist at a new 'adult' store that might be opening in Eustace Street, Temple Bar, citing something about a 'cultural' centre for children at the end of the street. Why have we such an obsession with sex in this country? I have absolutely no problem with adult stores whatsoever. As a psychosexual therapist, I have sent thousands of my patients into these stores for various items. They are providing a valuable service to the community. I certainly would advocate adult stores have a correct and decent window display. Nobody wishes to have the 'Soho' look of the '60s next door. The O'Connell Street store is an example of interesting and tasteful window displays.

I would therefore call on the media as a whole to stop playing for sensationalism by entertaining certain minority and bigoted groups, giving them dangerous media coverage resulting in an excess of fanaticism which is totally unhealthy for the community at large.

Dr John Keogh, Dublin 6.