FIRST IMPRESSIONS of any country are powerful, and could be lasting. No one appreciated this better than Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore who built the world’s finest airport at Changi, and matched it with an equally captivating scenic expressway drive to the city – an excellent introduction to the city-state.

First impressions of Dublin for those tourists or business visitors recently arriving at the airport are also likely to be favourable. The new terminal stands comparison with the world’s best.

What visitors next see as they travel to the city centre may prompt some to have second thoughts about their positive image of the city. The central reservation of the dual carriageway – where one might expect to see plants in bloom or grass growing– is instead bereft of any floral adornment, or even modest attempt at beautification. Instead some process of malign neglect has allowed a lethal weed to flourish and to blight the landscape.

Ragwort is now in full flower here and elsewhere, countrywide.

The toxic plant can be lethal, if eaten by horses or cattle. It is also an illegal substance. Under the 1936 Noxious Weeds Act, failure to prevent the spread of poisonous plants like ragwort is an offence.

Any owner, occupier, user or manager of lands who allows the plant to grow can face a fine of up to €1000 on conviction.

The prevalence of ragwort – with its distinctive bright yellow flowers – on roadsides, ditches, fields and public places, also tells us something about ourselves. It reflects the public’s indifference to what is a dangerous hazard for animals.

It also reflects contempt for a law that has failed, thanks to non-compliance by the public and non-enforcement by the authorities.

Where once – years ago – the Garda prosecuted ragwort growers, and did so effectively, responsibility for enforcement of that law has long since passed to the Department of Agriculture. And there the record speaks for itself. The department, where it becomes aware of the presence of noxious weeds, issues notices to those responsible to destroy the offending plants. Last year it issued just 35 such notices.

Is it too much to expect that the State lead by example, that the National Roads Authority, which is responsible for our roads, should obey the law, and either remove ragwort from roadsides or face prosecution by the department that is meant to be enforcing that law?