READING the continued correspondence in your pages about litter on the streets of Falmouth, I was reminded of a recent holiday in Ireland. What a contrast there is to be found in that country!

In Dublin we saw council cleaning staff, refuse carts and bin lorries on the streets at all times of the day - even 9 o'clock at night. There were also notices warning of large fines for dropping chewing gum and other litter. As a result, despite it being a Bank Holiday weekend when the city was teeming with tourists, the streets were virtually spotless.

And it wasn't just in Dublin. In Westport, a little town of just 3,000 on the west coast, one of the first people we saw was you've guessed it, someone picking up litter.

Even the ATMs will only give you a receipt after warning you about not littering. And in the cafes and pubs glasses are collected and tables cleared and cleaned as soon as they are vacated.

Presumably the Irish authorities invest just a little extra of their budget on street cleaning, and this has an effect right across the board.

Mike Shelley, 66 Woodbridge Road, Bristol