This morning: Dundee’s video games industry, Brechin’s cup run, a defence of landowners, faith and schools, and nuclear power.
Asset stripping of Dundee’s game industry
Sir,-Having followed the demise of Realtime Worlds of Dundee with scepticism and wonder as to just how the games industry could ever be the saviour of the city, I am now left in complete and utter disbelief at the recent turn of events.
You reported (March 22) that the company who bought the assets of Realtime Worlds (US-based Reloaded Productions) has just been given a Scottish Development International grant of £125,000 to help it create 22 jobs in Edinburgh.
Over £85 million was invested in Realtime Worlds and over 200 jobs were lost yet, for just £125,000, Edinburgh has taken the cream of what Dundee had to offer.
Why or indeed how could that be allowed to happen? What next the biotech industry?
Peter Leyland.9 West Park Road,Wormit.
Windfall could improve park
Sir,-As Brechin City are likely to have received a sizeable windfall from their televised Scottish Cup game with St Johnstone, the Scottish Football Association should insist that they now comply with their diktat that the pitch at Glebe Park is increased by five metres in width.
It may also be prudent to use some of the money to install additional drainage. It took two hours of forking prior to the first cup game on March 12 to make the pitch playable.
R. T. Fairweather.6 Silverknowes Grove,Edinburgh.
Landowners act responsibly
Sir,-How deeply regrettable it is to see your columnist Jim Crumley (March 22) puff himself up in a fit of righteous indignation about raptor poisoning while skating over or ignoring some crucial facts.
In his indiscriminate attack on estate owners, landowners and farmers he failed to mention that the landowners’ organisation, the Scottish Rural Property and Business Association, is one of the partnership organisations which actually produced the latest statistics on raptor persecution.
He ignored, too, the fact that SRPBA and landowners are heavily involved in partnerships for action against wildlife crime, working alongside police forces, the RSPB and government.
We are united in our desire to eradicate wildlife crime which has been condemned out of hand by landowners and estates repeatedly and widely.
It would appear, however, that for some people the fact that progress is being made is an inconvenient truth that can be swept aside in a diatribe of prejudice.
While raptor poisoning incidents have remained static for the last year, there has been a downward general trend in recent years. For example, partnerships against wildlife crime in areas such as Grampian and Cairngorm have proved their worth, with no recorded incidents in 2010.
More, of course, can and should be done and no effort is being spared. Equally, those who pontificate on these matters and dispense judgment should put accuracy and fairness before wild rhetoric.
Daye Tucker.Chair,SRPBA Central Region,Stuart House,Eskmills Business Park,Musselburgh.
Liberate our children’s minds
Sir,-Sylvia Brown (March 21) incorrectly asserts that I am on some sort of crusade to destroy the family unit.
I never said parents did not have the right to send their children to the school of their choosing. I stated that religious schools should not be subsidised through general taxation.
Only 10% of people in Scotland regularly attend church.
If religious organisations want to run schools, the congregation should pay for it through a tithe.
A stable society is built when we have intelligent free-thinking children who will question and learn about science and technology.
The biggest stumbling block to liberating children’s minds is religion.
Alan Hinnrichs.2 Gillespie Terrace,Dundee.
Renewables’ reliable future
Sir,-The pro-nuclear contributors to your column get ever more shrill as the dangers of nuclear power become ever more real to the public following the tragic events in Japan.
One recent claim that renewables put the country at increased risk of terrorist attack was particularly desperate, especially when you consider that putting all your energy eggs in the nuclear basket gives terrorists a few juicy, high-impact targets.
Most pro-nuclear arguments centre on two tissue-thin premises.
One is that what happened in Japan could not happen here so we will be perfectly safe using nuclear for ever. However, it is not just tsunamis we have to worry about, with any number of technical and human failings inevitably leading to similar catastrophes in the decades to come.
The second argument used is the myth of power cuts if renewables are pursued, with only nuclear offering a secure and consistent supply.
This relies on people being fooled into believing that wind turbines are the only source of renewable energy and that nuclear plants never shut down.
There are many other sources of renewable energy that will ensure no lights go out during times of light wind.
Both Scotland’s nuclear plants have been shut down at the same time over safety issues without any power cuts. Why should we believe it would be any different with renewables?
Stuart Allan.8 Nelson Street,Dundee.
Get involved: to have your say on these or any other topics, email your letter to letters@thecourier.co.uk or send to Letters Editor, The Courier, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL.