I was at the public march on Saturday as a citizen of this country and not representing any union or political party. When I saw Michael Clifford in the crowd on O'Connell Street I knew at least that the march would be covered accurately.

In particular, his assessment of the numbers that attended was more on the money than many other newspapers', radio stations' or TV channels' estimates. My own estimate was 100,000+, and I can only compare its size to that of the anti-war march in 2003.

As a regular Sunday Tribune reader I was very disappointed to see in your paper a picture of the small number of mostly hooded protestors who decided to march to Leinster House after the main march and cause minor trouble with hundreds of gardaí.

There were children on parents' shoulders, and pensioners and students on this march carrying no union banners or burning effigies. Why could you not have presented these images instead on the front page of the paper?

It was a poor editorial decision which did not portray the atmosphere of day which was predominantly peaceful.

Dave Dodd

Swords

Co Dublin