Sir, – As I sit here in my apartment, the persistent shrieking of a nearby house alarm that started eight hours ago continues to destroy the peace of the weekend. With the owners away and no way of communicating with them, there is little I can do about this situation short of trespass and vandalism. Although legally all house alarms should have a maximum external alarm duration of 15 minutes, in reality very few meet this standard, and the Garda is essentially powerless unless evidence of repeated and persistent instances of noise pollution are brought before a judge. In other countries, house alarm standards might be enforced, or officers of the law might be empowered to act when faced with a clear case of noise pollution. In Ireland, however, we just shrug our shoulders and lament the inefficiency of our country. While I acknowledge that, typically, issues of greater import are discussed on this page, it is noteworthy that with each passing hour I can feel my vote increasingly promised to the first politician that pledges to solve this simple but recurrent and distressing problem. – Yours, etc,
COLIN DAVENPORT,
Dublin 9.
Source: Irish Times Letters Date: 4th April 2016
