Motorways by Name only

Many countries in Europe, as well as on other continents, have an excellent system of roads. But Ireland does not. Many countries also have a network of motorways, and - again - Ireland is not among them. What we have on this island of ours is a patchwork of national, regional and local roads, interspersed with roadlets and paths that have not changed much over the past two or three centuries.

When most of Ireland's roads were designed and built, it was predominantly the (then British) military that was doing it, and for obvious reasons.
Thousands of years ago the ancient Egyptians, the Persians and other great empires had built roads to move their soldiers around faster, and the Romans became the true masters of strategic road building. Every major country in the world has learned from them and given attention to important roads.

However, Ireland is not a major country, and it was never touched by Roman civilisation.

This one can still notice here today. Most of our roads were built between the late 18th and early 20th century, and they were built for the usual traffic of the time: people on horseback, horse-drawn coaches and carriages, carts drawn by horses, oxen or donkeys, and people on foot.
And even though most of Irish roads are meanwhile covered with tarmac, they are still winded, quite narrow (especially when one compares them with roads in other countries) and often in need of maintenance we cannot afford.

Until about 30 years ago Ireland did not have any motorway at all. And it did not need one. Then some of the wider national roads around Dublin were designated as 'motorways', in order to give us a more modern look and impress a number of foreign visitors. We still had no real motorways, but pretence is a great thing for the Irish. And if one does it well here and pretends things long enough, people will actually believe that they exist. (Just think of leprechauns and the faireys...)

During the years of pretended economic boom, the period of the - once worshipped and now cursed - 'Celtic Tiger', a few new motorways have been constructed in Ireland. Most of them are in and around Dublin, and some of them were built with private money and are now operated as toll roads. They have the same traffic jams and congestions as all other roads, but their greedy operators charge motorists an arm and a leg for the privilege to crawl over their piece of tarmac instead of some other, a mile or two away.

But even with the new additions to the system, Ireland still has a very bad road network, and almost no motorways. If you want to see the real thing, you have to travel to Germany, where the motorway was invented in the 1930s. There most of them have six lanes as a rule, with some major sections being even wider and providing eight or even ten lanes.

What we have here in Ireland are mostly modernised national roads, in some sections widened to four lanes. But to make us look a little bigger and more important than we actually are, Noel Dempsey (right), currently Minister for Transport, has now "re-classified" 294.3 km of national roads as "motorways".

They are really motorways by name only, and nothing has changed on these roads, except that the speed limit has been increased from 100 km/h (the standard for national roads) to 120 km/h.
Under general traffic laws the new 'motorways' cannot be used by any learner-drivers, motorcycles and "certain types of agricultural vehicles".

One can understand the ban of agricultural vehicles. It makes sense and is the same in most other countries. As there are no 'learner-drivers' elsewhere - with exception of the UK - the question of them using motorways does not arise in other nations. But why ban motorcycles from our 'motorways'? Motorcyclists can use all roads in other countries, and there seem to be no problems with them, as long as they obey the rules of the road like everyone else.

This whole 're-classification' of roads is another example for the confusion and incomptence of our government in general, and for the specific incompetence of Noel Dempsey in particular. The man is useless and clueless, and has demonstrated this in several government departments he was in charge of. And Transport makes no difference to 'the bouncer' from Co. Meath.

The real joke - unfortunately not a good one - is the list of roads that are now 're-classified' as 'motorways'. If you expect a number of lengthy and well-developed sections of overland roads, you will be disappointed.

But then again, this is Ireland, so what can you really expect?

To begin with, of the 294.3 km of national roads that Noel Dempsey has pompously "re-classified as motorways" yesterday, less than half actually exist at present!
Only 42.6% (125.5 km) exist and are 'open for traffic', while 47.9% (140.8 km) are still 'under construction' and 9.5% (the 28 km section of the N 18 from Oranmore to Gort in Co. Galway) is only 'in planning'.

The longest part of newly re-classified 'motorway' that is actually open for traffic is a 21 km section of the N 11 between Arklow in Co. Wicklow and Gorey in Co. Wexford.
The rest is nothing but a higgledy-piggledy patchwork of small to medium-sized pieces all over the country, with the shortest being a section of the N 3 (from Dublin to Cavan) between Littlepace and Loughsallagh, which is just 2.1 km long.

This means that motorists driving on Ireland's national roads in future will constantly have to watch if they are on a stretch of official 'motorway' with 120 km/h speed limit, or on a normal national road with only 100 km/h limit. It will lead to even more confusion than there is now, and most likely to more speeding tickets for drivers who think that they are still on a 'motorway', while they have in fact passed it already.

The whole thing is nothing but a farce, another sick joke from an utterly clueless minister in an incompetent government that is simply not capable of doing anything right.

The Emerald Islander

Dublin Rail Line Collapse raises many Questions

Iarnród Éireann, Ireland's state-owned national railway company, has announced that an official investigation into the collapse of a part of the main Dublin to Belfast railway line near Malahide in Co. Dublin (see yesterday's entry) is going to take place.

Well, this is the least one could and should expect after such a disastrous and embarrassing incident.
In fact, this investigation should not be held just by Iarnród Éireann's own staff, but augmented by Gardai and specialists from the Health & Safety Executive.
After all, lives could easily have been lost and much further damage could have been done had the collapsed segment of the viaduct across the Broadmeadow estuary not been spotted and reported by a train driver.
As operator of the line, Iarnród Éireann has a vested interest in the matter, as well as the full and sole responsibility for the maintenance of track, structures, engines and rolling stock.
So a public investigation, or one with participation of experts from outside the railway company, would make a big difference and could prevent an internal cover-up.

A spokesperson for Iarnród Éireann said that "the collapsed section of the railway bridge has undergone a structural examination" only a few days ago. This inspection was "carried out on the line by an engineer on Tuesday, and no issues were identified".

According to Iarnród Éireann all its railway lines are "inspected three times a week by a patrol man, and given a structural assessment by an engineer every two years".

These statements are not satisfactory at all and raise a number of further questions:

• Was the inspecting engineer qualified for his job?
• Did he do his job well? And if he did, why did the railway bridge collapse three days later?
• Was it the regular two-year structural assessment?
• Or was it a special inspection because a patrol man had noticed something unusual? If so, what was it?
• Did Iarnród Éireann's management know that there was something wrong with this part of the line? Or that it was in a bad state of maintenance?
• What exactly did the engineer find and report on Tuesday?
• Did he spot a problem, but was overruled or ignored by his superiors in the company?

Concrete is a solid substance and does not crumble easily. There is, however, even for concrete an element of wear and tear (like for everything), and it can be particularly prone to deterioration or erosion when it is in close proximity to water. In the case of the collapsed segment of railway line this is certainly the case.
It is very hard to believe that the structure was in perfect order when inspected on Tuesday, and then collapsed completely on Friday, only three days later.

Iarnród Éireann states that it will take at least three months before the damage is repaired.

In the meantime trains will only operate between Drogheda and Skerries, and Iarnród Éireann has advised customers travelling between Dublin city and all stations north of Malahide to use Dublin Bus or Bus Éireann services.

Belfast Enterprise services will operate trains between Belfast and Drogheda, and organise bus transfers between Drogheda and Connolly station in Dublin.
But DART (Dublin area railway) services between Malahide and Howth Junction are operating normally.
Up to 10,000 passengers per day are facing disruption and inconvenience for at least three months. Commuters who normally use the Belfast to Dublin trains have been told to add around 30 minutes to their usual journey time.

The passengers' lobby organisation Rail Users Ireland has said it is "extremely concerned" following the collapse, which "raises serious questions of Irish Rail's maintenance and inspection regime".
It also called for cash refunds for all holders of weekly, monthly and annual tickets that are now unable to travel.

Although I am not a member of Rail Users Ireland, I wholeheartedly agree with their statement and demands. The overall state of Ireland's railway system is pretty bad for a long time. It is a run-down service, unloved by the government, which would like to privatise it, if it could find someone mad enough to buy it.

For a long time both the government and Iarnród Éireann completely overlook the great potential rail travel could have here, if it was done the right way. Not even to mention how much more we could do for the environment if major transports of large-size items and goods in bulk would be shifted from Ireland's narrow roads to the railways.

A hundred years ago Ireland had one of the most impressive and effective railway systems in Europe, and even fifty years ago there was still plenty of it around. But due to deliberate State vandalism and extreme ignorance during the 1950s and 1960s the once splendid network was savaged and ripped to pieces. What we are left with is a broken skeleton structure of what we had when railways were en vogue. But instead of improving the situation and making Ireland's railways fit for the 21st century, the people in charge close their eyes, don't want to know about the various problems inside the system, and some are even permanently asleep on the job.

To begin with, we need a Minister for Transport who likes and understands railways. As long as Noel Dempsey, the government's bouncer from Co. Meath, is in charge, things can - and will - only go from bad to worse.

The Emerald Islander

Irish School Bus Fees to rise by 79%!!!

Bus Éireann, our inefficient and state-owned national bus company, has announced an increase of their school bus fares by a staggering 79% (!!!) from the start of the new school year. This is another outrage in a long list of scandals involving public transport in this country.

Until June the annual fee for secondary school pupils who use the official school bus service was € 168 a year, which is already more than enough, since the scheme is supported by the Department of Education. The new rate will now be € 300 (!!!) per school year, which is indeed and rise of 79% (!!!) in one step. And this comes during the worst recession the country has ever experienced in its 90-year history under various forms of self-rule (since 1919).

What might be the justification for such an enormous increase? There is none.

But the scandalous decision shows once more that the incompetent and overpaid management of Bus Éireann lives on an entirely different planet, a place I call 'Planet Greed'.
I think they need their mental capacity examined by a good psychiatrist!

And who made the decision? Surely the relevant ministers - Batt O'Keeffe (Education - left) and Noel Dempsey (Transport - below right) - must have been involved in a step of such magnitude.

Both ministers are not seen as competent and effective leaders of their departments, and this is only another example how the Irish state robs and rips-off its citizens in the most shameless and scandalous way wherever and whenever possible.

Parents affected by this official highway robbery should protest immediately and - if the rise is not cancelled - they should boycott the scheme and keep their children at home.

When one is faced with a completely incompetent but immensely greedy government that clings to power at all costs in times of severe economic depression and serious financial crisis, the only way to achieve some change is people power. If we don't use it, we will be robbed ever more, while the country as a whole goes to the dogs.

The Emerald Islander

Dublin Taxi Drivers protest over Licence Fee

Taxi drivers in Dublin withdrew their services this morning in protest at a decision by the Taxi Regulator Kathleen Doyle (left) to increase the licence fee.

The cost to obtain an Irish taxi driver's badge has recently been raised from previously € 3 to € 250 (!!!), at short notice, without consultation and for no good reason.

Despite several public protests last month (see also my entry of May 9th), there has been no reaction and no sign of willingness to negotiate the matter from the utterly useless Commission for Taxi Regulation, which employs 23 people full-time for nothing else but to harass Ireland's taxi drivers and to make their lives more difficult and unpleasant.

So the four main taxi drivers unions told their members in the capital not to work today - the day before the European and local government elections - between 7am and 11am. This is the latest in a long line of strikes and protests Irish taxi drivers have staged in recent months to highlight their desperate situation. (for more information and details see my entries of March 5th, April 1st & 28th and May 9th)

The union leaders will later today hand in a letter at the Department of Transport. It is addressed to Noel Dempsey (right), our (most ignorant and incompetent) Minister for Transport, and will call for the resignation of taxi regulator Kathleen Doyle.

But as things are with Fianna Fáil ministers and their pet minions and cronies, I would think that Kathleen Doyle's job is quite safe.

Noel Dempsey has absolutely no understanding of transport, no interest in public transport, and most certainly no compassion for struggling taxi drivers.
I doubt that he will even read the letter addressed to him by the drivers' unions. For such menial tasks he has other minions, who will then write a meaningless three-line letter in reply.
Such is government in Ireland, and - sadly - in most other countries as well.

The Emerald Islander

Dublin Taxi Drivers protest again today

The independent action group Taxi Drivers for Change is staging another protest in Dublin today, which will continue throughout this afternoon. At present more than 100 taxi drivers are taking part, but it is expected that more will join the demonstration later.

The group's organisers are accusing the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey (Fianna Fáil), and the completely useless 'Taxi Regulator' Kathleen Doyle (photo below left) of "not listening to their concerns".

Today's protest is also specifically directed against the increase of the taxi license renewal fee.
Last week the statutory renewal fee for a five-year 'Public Service Vehicle License' was suddenly raised by the Commission for Taxi Regulation from € 3 to € 250!
This is a one-step increase of € 247 or - in percentage points - of a staggering 8233% (!!!) and comes at a time when the country is in a deep recession, hundreds of thousands are losing their jobs and money is tight everywhere. It beggars belief how any public body or organisation could be so immensely greedy, cruel and insensible, especially at a time like this.

A spokesperson for Kathleen Doyle said the new fee was "required to cover the processing and renewal of applications".
I suspect the real reason is that the extra money is needed to finance the salary of Doyle's new personal assistant, a position created only recently and now the 23rd employee of the Commission for Taxi Regulation. (In contrast to Ireland, with 4 million people, Germany with a population of 83 million does not have a 'taxi regulator' and anything that needs to be changed in regard to the rules for taxis is handled very efficiently by two civil servants in the Ministry for Transport.)

The taxi drivers say that the massive increase is unsustainable and was imposed on them with no warning or consultation.

Not since the Middle Ages have we seen such arrogance of a public body, which is totally out of touch with the people and in particular with the industry it is supposed to regulate.

Traffic disruptions and delays in some parts of the capital city are expected as a side-effect of the protest. But the people of Dublin are in general very supportive of the taxi drivers' long-running campaign, which has so far organised more than a dozen public protest demonstrations in the capital, as well as a number of smaller protests in other Irish cities, such as Waterford, Galway, Limerick and Cork.

The Emerald Islander


P.S. It is quite an interesting foot note to the ongoing taxi dispute that at a time when jobs are lost and wages are cut almost everywhere in the private sector, the 22 employees of the Commission for Taxi Regulation have received a pay rise. And not enough with that, they even created a new position very recently.
Commissioner Kathleen Doyle, apparently "over-worked and dealing with important issues", now employs a PA (Personal Assistant). The well-paid plum job - surprise, surprise - went to another woman, Sonia McIntyre, an acquaintance of Kathleen.
Nepotism and cosy arrangements are still common practice in Dublin under our government of morons. And those inside the Fianna Fáil lifeboats continue to have safe jobs, very high salaries and a splendid luxurious lifestyle. It is only the rest of us - the vast majority of the Irish people - who are thrown into shark-infested waters, without a wet suit, life belt or swimming lesson...

Another Taxi Drivers' Protest in Waterford

Motorists in Waterford City experienced severe traffic disruption today as most of the local taxi drivers took part in a work stoppage, organised in protest over the number of taxi licences being issued.

Taxi drivers carried out a 'go-slow' along the city's quays and across the Rice Bridge from 12 o'clock noon until 3 pm this afternoon.

Members of the Waterford Taxi Drivers' Association say that "the market is swamped, due to endless licences being issued".
Some of the local drivers with many years of service expressed special anger over "a strange group of newcomers", which includes "a significant number of Africans with no roots in the community".

It appears that "Nigerians based in England" acquired Irish taxi licences and now operate taxis in various parts of Ireland - including Waterford - with "other African drivers they bring into the country as they please".

The main anger of the drivers is however directed against the Dublin-based 'Commission for Taxi Regulation', a useless 'Quango' established by Bertie Ahern, and against the current Minister for Transport, Fianna Fáil's Noel Dempsey.

The Emerald Islander

Dublin in Traffic Chaos over Bus Drivers' Strike

Dublin Bus services are in disarray and many city routes face severe disruption as a result of an unofficial work stoppage by numerous drivers at the company's bus depots.

The strike action began already yesterday morning, when drivers stopped working in sympathy with a colleague on route 128. This driver was suspended by the management "for refusing to work to a new schedule".

Trade unions had accepted Labour Court recommendations on the bus company's € 31 million cost-cutting measures that included a reduction of the fleet by 120 buses.
Most of the drivers are unhappy with new schedules which were coming into effect yesterday and had been recommended by the Labour Court.

Dublin Bus routes that will have no service at all are the numbers 4 and 4A, 13 and 13A, 17A, 33B, 40, 102, 128, 140, 142, 237, 238, 239 and 270.
There is also disruption to at least ten routes, partly serviced by drivers and buses from the Harristown depot. These are the numbers 37 and 37X, 38 and 38C, 39 and 39X, 41 and 41X, 43 and 70.

The drivers claim that while the broad proposals had been accepted by their unions over a week ago, the working arrangements for drivers on each of the routes affected by the cuts had to be worked out locally before the implementation of the cuts.
They said agreement had been reached on all but one of the routes due to be cut or changed. And when the first driver turned up to work that one route - the 128 - yesterday morning, he refused to operate the new schedule and was suspended, prompting the action by the other drivers at the depot.

There were already serious implications and traffic disruptions all throughout Dublin yesterday. But today, on a normal working day, things are a lot worse. Tens of thousands of commuters who rely on the services of Dublin Bus to get from their homes to their places of work are affected by the bus drivers' dispute. Many did not manage to reach work at all, and many more arrived late, in cases up to four hours late.
Others, who - in anticipation of the bus strike - decided to come into the city by car, had not much joy either. The increase in private cars coming in, together with some bus routes operating irregular intervals, while others operate normal as always and some are shut down completely, is causing a massive traffic chaos, with long tailbacks and traffic jams on all major city streets and ringroads.

But while hundreds of thousands of Dubliners (and the visitors to our capital) are suffering from the various elements of this complete chaos and breakdown of organised inner city traffic, the man responsible is enjoying himself on a day out in the country. Transport Minister Noel Dempsey (right) decided not to bother at all with Dublin today and to stay for another fine day in his rural constituency of Co. Meath, which is not so far from the capital, but far enough to escape the traffic chaos and the angry bus drivers.

Noel Dempsey, one of the most pigheaded and incompetent of Fianna Fáil's politicians, is now in his fourth ministerial job at cabinet level. After being a junior minister and the government 'chief whip' from 1992 to 1994, Dempsey was promoted to the cabinet in 1997 as Minister for the Environment, Heritage & Local Government. After the 2002 election Bertie Ahern moved him to Education & Science, and in September 2004 Dempsey moved again, this time to Communications, Natural Resources and the Marine. In each of these three positions he proved to be a complete disaster. He dreamed up the introduction of electronic voting machines for Ireland in his first cabinet job, and it took more than ten years to decide to get rid of them eventually.
As Education Minister he upset the Curriculum and many teachers, and after his spell in charge of the Marine the department was so wrecked and depleated of resources that it was abolished in 2007 and incorporated into the Department of Transport, to which Dempsey was moved subsequently.

He has absolutely no idea about traffic and transport, and his only real involvement in that matter was the fact that he and his brother bought up most of the land in Co. Meath that was later allocated - and thus bought by the government for a much higher price - to the route of the controversial M 3 motorway.
Since last December Dempsey has been working hard to undermine the already weak system of public transport in Ireland (see my entries of December 17th, 2008 and January 20th, 2009). Part of that process are fare increases and budget cuts for the state-owned transport company Coras Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) and its component parts Iarnród Éireann (Irish Railways), Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus. The most severe measures, including the cuts of bus routes and decommissioning of 120 buses, Dempsey applied to Dublin Bus.

He is the one man solely responsible for today's traffic chaos, and for a lot more damage to this country's transport system. Every day he remains in the cabinet and in charge of Transport, things can only get worse.

The Emerald Islander

Taxi Drivers protest against idiotic Regulation

More than 1500 taxi drivers have protested in Dublin this afternoon over the issue of taxi licences.

The protesting drivers assembled at Merrion Square, after making their way from three separate meeting points at the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, the Stillorgan Shopping Centre and the Airside Retail Park

This was the fifth public protest by the pressure group Taxi Drivers for Change.

The drivers claim that - since the deregulation of licensing in the year 2000 - the number of taxis in Dublin has risen from originally 2000 to now 25000 (!) and say that too many taxis are currently in operation. As a result it is impossible for drivers to make a decent living.

Taxi Drivers for Change wants the taxi industry to be restructured and the issuing of new licences to be suspended.

The Department of Transport acknowledged that "taxi drivers are facing genuine difficulties". However, a spokesperson said that the Minister for Transport is "waiting for the Commission on Taxi Regulation to report before he makes any further comment".

This is another typical example of the government dragging its feet while a serious problem is appearing on their doorstep. Noel Dempsey (right), the Minister for Transport, has no interest in doing anything, as he has not a clue about the situation on the streets. He also has the reputation of being one of the most messy and least efficient Fianna Fáil ministers.

Neither he nor anyone else in government is willing to acknowledge that the whole idea of 'independent' regulation is a complete failure and responsible for the shambles we can see now every day.

Ireland is a small country with only about 4 million population. But it has a 'Commission on Taxi Regulation' which is "an independent public body, the principal function of which is the development and maintenance of a regulatory framework for the control and operation of small public service vehicles (SPSVs) which comprise taxis, wheelchair accessible taxis, hackneys and limousines". (The author of this definition should be nominated for a hogwash jargon award...)
It is housed in a splendid office building in Dublin and employs 22 people full-time (and some more part-time).
The 22 permanent staff are the Commissioner Kathleen Doyle, and under her two directors, three department heads and a technical advisor. Below management level there are

• one 'customer services manager',
• two 'customer services administrators',
• one 'information officer',
• one 'enforcement executive',
• one 'enforcement administrator'
• and nine 'enforcement officers'.

What all these people with their pompous and meaningless job titles are actually doing all day is anyone's guess. But they are very well paid, for sure.
I asked many taxi drivers about them, and the overwhelming opinion is that they are "a total nuisance", "completely useless", "a waste of space" and "a waste of taxpayers' money".

But that is not enough. The 'Commission on Taxi Regulation' has also a part-time 'Advisory Council' with no less than 17 members! What they do is even more nebulous than the purpose of the commission itself.

In contrast to the Irish situation let's have a brief look at Germany, the largest of the 27 EU countries, with a population of over 82 million (more than twenty times the size of Ireland) and many more taxis than we have.
Germany has neither a commission on taxi regulation, nor any advisory council. The legislation on how to operate a taxi is very clear, and anything that needs to be changed or regulated is done by two civil servants in the German Federal Ministry of Transport. That is it. Two people, for a population of over 82 million, while we have a total of at least 39 people for a population of little more than 4 million.

I think that speaks for itself and needs no further comment.

If the government were really serious with their plans to save money, they would simply abolish the whole bureaucratic apparatus and let the matter of taxis be handled by a civil servant in the Department of Transport. That was good enough until the year 2000, and it worked fine.
But then Bertie Ahern began his mad and irresponsible spending spree, which coincided with a massive programme to create cosy public service jobs for his friends and supporters.

Within a couple of years countless 'regulators' were created out of nothing, and they all got lavish offices with plenty of staff. None of these 'regulators' - from the 'Financial Regulator' over the 'Energy Regulator' and the 'Communications Regulator' to the 'Commission on Taxi Regulation' - has done anything worth doing. In fact, they have made the situation in Ireland a lot worse and cost the taxpayers vast sums of money.

We should scrap the whole lot at once. It would save us hundreds of millions immediately and make life in many areas a lot less complicated.
But going by previous experience, I do not expect this to happen. The cosy cartel of government, TDs, civil servants and corporate bosses is not willing to make the sacrifices the Taoiseach and his Minister for Finance have in mind for the rest of us.

Perhaps some more, and some more direct action is called for to wake them up. I salute the 1500 taxi drivers who made their fifth contribution to this process today, and I was myself among the 120,000 who recently demonstrated in Dublin. We will have to keep this up, and - if necessary - increase the pressure. Otherwise we are settled with this incompetent government for another three years, and by then Ireland would certainly be bankrupt and a failed state.

The Emerald Islander

Public Transport in Ireland deteriorates further as Bus Éireann implements Dempsey's Job Cuts

Bus Éireann, the national bus company and backbone of public transport in Ireland, is to cut 320 jobs, and its bus fleet will be reduced by 150 vehicles.
This decision of the company's management was conveyed to its 2700 employees earlier today.

Bus Éireann also outlined a 'cost effectiveness plan' with measures it says are "necessary to ensure its success in a very challenging economic environment".
In addition to the job cuts and reduction in its fleet, the plan also includes a pay freeze up to the end of 2009 as well as the deferring of payment of the terms of the Towards 2016 agreement.

In 2007 Bus Éireann made a profit of € 7 million, but last year it had losses of € 9 million, and that figure was projected to reach € 30 million in 2009.
The company says that "the unprecedented economic downturn" led to a 4% decrease in Bus Éireann customer numbers in 2008. It estimates that there will be a further 5% to 6% fall in passenger numbers in 2009.

Bus Éireann says it hopes that savings from the plan "will restore the company to a strong financial position" by the end of 2010.
This is, however, at best very optimistic and more likely completely unrealistic. How can one expect a consolidation of one's business with increased passenger numbers and solid profit when the number and quality of services is reduced, while the fares are rising at the same time? One really wonders on what planet the managers of Bus Éireann and its parent company CIÉ live...

Last week, Dublin Bus announced 290 job losses as part of a series of cost-cutting measures, which include also withdrawing 120 city buses, which is 10% of its fleet.
It said no routes will be removed, but some services would be "amalgamated" and that the frequency of buses would be "adjusted" in some areas.
Well, this is the same concept as in Bus Éireann, the idea that one can earn more money by offering less service for more money.

There is no vision of the future, no inspiration and no sense for reality in CIÉ, the state-owned transport company that acts as umbrella for Iarnród Éireann (Irish Railways), Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus. And since the company is directly controlled - and systematically wrecked - by the Department of Transport, there is not much leeway for new ideas, even if they had them.

Noel Dempsey (right), currently the Minister for Transport, has so far left every department he ran in a complete mess, and he will make no exception with Transport.
The job cuts and reductions of transport services and vehicles is his idea (see my entry of December 17th, 2008) and he does not care the slightest what this disastrous mismanagement does to the country and to the many users of public transport. Dempsey moves around the country in a chauffeur-driven huge Mercedes and lives like a king. He has no idea what it means to travel on an over-crowed bus that runs 30-40 minutes behind schedule...

I wonder if the employees of Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus will have the guts to fight the announced job cuts, or if they let them just happen while more than 10% of their colleagues are shoved off onto the dole.
Now is the time to stand up and be counted. If you don't, you will be counted out and gone for good...

The Emerald Islander

Dempsey does more Damage to CIÉ

Is there anyone in our incompetent government who understands at least the basic rules of Economics, and how markets and societies work? Obviously not.

The latest example of a goat made gardener is Noel Dempsey (right), a pigheaded Fianna Fáil apparatchik from Co. Meath and the Cabinet's bouncer, who has been in charge of too many government departments to keep track of them all.
However, people working in those departments do remember him well, as he left each of them in a real mess when he was moved on to run down and wreck the next one. (They loathe him especially in Education, and among the civil servants in the Customs House - home of the Dept. of the Environment - he has a status only one step removed from the Anti-Christ...)

Currently Dempsey is in charge of Transport, since Martin Cullen (left), our very own little clown from Waterford city who had it before him, did not manage to destroy the public transport system quickly enough.
Not for want of trying, mind you, but Martin is just not very effective, regardless what he does.
Dempsey will do better, and today he moved another step closer to dismantle the already poor structure of public transport in Ireland.

He told the Dáil that Coras Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) - the state-owned holding company that controls Iarnród Éireann (the Irish railways), Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus - "will make a deficit of € 39 million this year", compared with a deficit of just under € 1.5 million in 2007.

Anyone who knows CIÉ with its arrogant and self-serving attitudes, sluggish and inefficient management, under-qualified but over-paid staff and total lack of regard for its passengers will not be surprised. Only those who have no other choice ever travel with the three CIÉ companies.

To give you an example: Both Iarnród Éireann and Bus Éireann provide regular services from Waterford to Dublin (and back, if you are lucky). So anyone here who has business in Dublin can get there by either train or bus. The problem is that there are only a few services per day, and none at all in the evening or through the night.
If I want to use a train, I can leave Waterford at about 7.30 a.m. and will be in Dublin by 10 a.m., unless there is "a problem on the line", which happens rather often. By bus it will take me three hours, but the costs are almost the same.
I have to be very quick in Dublin, as the last bus back to Waterford leaves the capital at 6 p.m. and the last train only a few minutes later. This means that anything that extends beyond 5 p.m. cannot be done in Dublin when using CIÉ services. Not even to mention the idea of going to a concert or seeing a play in a Dublin theatre. Impossible for an Irish provincial person depending on public transport.

So if one has a longer day in Dublin, a car is the only way to get there - and back - in a reasonable way. However, there is - at least from Waterford (and several other towns along the route) - an alternative to the CIÉ services. A private bus company runs a regular service to Dublin (city and airport) seven days a week. And guess what? Their fare is half of what CIÉ charges, and they go a lot more often, including at night. It is no surprise that their buses are usually well filled, while CIÉ services drive around the country with their buses often more than half empty.

Irish People are not stupid. But unfortunately our current government (a coalition of Fianna Fáil and the Green Party) is, and the management of CIÉ follows the government closely.

CIÉ's mismanagement has now run up an amazing deficit of over € 39 million. This is a lot for you and me, but only a small sum for a government these days.
Especially one that has just declared it will hand over € 10 billion to save our failing (privately owned) banks.
In many other EU countries public transport operations like CIÉ receive hundreds of millions of state subsidies every year, in order to provide a proper, functional and affordable system of public transport. And there people use their trains, buses and trams all the time, in large numbers and quite happily.

But what is Ireland doing? Our idiot of a Transport Minister has nothing better to offer than an increase of (the already way too expensive) fares by a further 10%, a reduction of the frequency of services, and a withdrawl of some routes altogether.

Is there a doctor in Leinster House? (There are actually a few...)
Because someone qualified needs to certify Noel Dempsey as insane and remove him from his job to a lunatic asylum, where he belongs!

What Noel Dempsey proposed today will make CIÉ even less attractive for potential passengers, and thus create an increase in losses, and nothing else.
But then again, who knows, perhaps this is exactly his intention and brief. If FF's chief wrecker makes CIÉ even more uncompetitive as it is already, the government could justify to break it up and privatise its pieces. I am sure some greedy financial vultures with deep pockets and friendly relations to Fianna Fáil are already waiting in the wings.

In order to flourish - or at least function properly - CIÉ needs to lower its fares (in some cases significantly), increase its frequency of services, improve the technical quality and comfort of its rolling stock, get rid of its incompetent management and its arrogant attitude, and then - under new leaders - train and motivate its staff for the 21st century. It is not difficult to do that, as long as there is a will and competent people. All over Europe it works very well.

Only here in Ireland the government is incapable of creating and maintaining a decent public transport system, available to the majority of the people and affordable for all. Besides Health, Education and the financial sector, public transport and infrastructure is the most seriously underfunded part of our nation and one of the worst managed as well. But it is a vital factor for the economy, and essential in the attempt to get out of recession.
Without proper transport systems, neither goods and materials will flow, nor will people have enough regular mobility.

This is not rocket science. Everyone with common sense and at least some understanding of the economy will grasp this nettle quite easily.
However, when it comes to brains, new ideas, imagination and the ability to solve problems, our current government is an infertile wasteland. And among the intellectually challenged in Leinster House Noel Dempsey is one of the most serious cases. If he ever had a brain, it must have gone AWOL at some stage without anyone noticing.

The sooner he is removed from his current position, the better for CIÉ and public transport in Ireland. In fact, the sooner the whole government goes, the better for everyone and everything on this island.

The Emerald Islander

Farmers protest against Fianna Fáil in Co. Offaly

While more than 8000 teachers and parents protested in Donegal town today against cuts to the education budget (see my earlier entry below), the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA) demonstrated outside the Tullamore Court Hotel in Tullamore, Co. Offaly, where Fianna Fáil were holding their National Councillors' Forum Annual Conference.

Around 200 Fianna Fáil county and city councillors from around the country gathered for this meeting and had to pass the gauntlet of the angry farmers, who displayed banners, placards and a small flock of miniature plastic models of cows and sheep in front of the conference hotel.

ICSA's angry protest was directed against recent cuts in the agricultural budget, and especially against a reduction of support schemes for small farms, which affects mostly people farming in the west and north-west of Ireland, where they raise cattle and sheep.

The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and three other government ministers were addressing the Fianna Fáil meeting, and it has been reported that especially Brian Cowen gave "a rousing speech" to his party members.
This is probably quite necessary, as the current unpopularity of the Irish government worries many Fianna Fáil councillors, particularly in light of the up-coming local elections next year.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment Mary Coughlan, Transport Minister Noel Dempsey, Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe and Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith also addressed the meeting and then faced the councillors in a questions-and-answers session, especially over the details of the controversial 2009 Budget.

However, in their usual arrogant way neither the Taoiseach nor his ministers had any time for the protesting farmers and showed no concern for their problems. I am sure the farmers - and not only those who were present today in Tullamore - will remember this when they cast their votes in future.

The Emerald Islander

Total Chaos at Dublin Airport

The problems with the radar system at Dublin Airport (see my entry from yesterday) are not "fully resolved yet" and continued to disrupt and delay air traffic to and from Dublin all day today.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), which is in charge of air traffic control, also said it is "unlikely that the air traffic control radar system (right) will be fully operational until after the weekend".

In fact, the faulty radar at Ireland's largest airport was only the trigger for a whole series of major problems which created a total chaos at Dublin Airport today. Nothing seems to work properly, no-one seems to know why, and no-one seems to take any responsibility for the mess.

Thousands of airline passengers spent many hours at the airport, waiting in uncertainty for flights or even proper information about them. Many flights were cancelled, others were delayed for hours.
Hundreds of passengers who were supposed to leave Dublin on various flights yesterday after 5 p.m. were left stranded at the airport overnight, without information when they could expect to depart and without any care and attention from anyone.

Neither the airlines, nor the IAA or the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) - now a private company - provided them with anything. There was no overnight accommodation, no food or drink, and no care for personal needs.

Many of the abandoned passengers gave up eventually and left Dublin Airport in disgust and anger, but several hundred, most of them from distant parts of Ireland and looking forward to their annual holidays, remained inside the airport all night. No-one tended to their needs, and they had no other choice but to sleep on the floor of the departure hall.
To make things even worse, at 4 a.m. this morning they were woken up by so-called "security guards" - uncivilised thugs in ill-fitting uniforms - who told them rudely that they had to get up and could not sleep on the airport's floor.

All day long more disruptions and delays blighted the operation of Dublin Airport, and none of the many employees of airlines, DAA and IAA knew really what was going on. Total chaos was the theme of the day. There was also no-one to be found who took any responsibility, as the DAA pointed to the IAA, who blamed the faulty radar. And the airlines pointed to both DAA and IAA, without any clue what was happening and without any efforts to make the life of their paying passengers easier.

This morning a group of Irish passengers were told that a flight to the French city of Nice, on which they were booked, was delayed "for several hours". They were told by airline ground staff to "go away and come back later" for further information. Following the advice, they went to the airport's restaurant area upstairs and had breakfast. When they returned to the airline counter about an hour later, they found out that their flight had left already, with their luggage on board.
Their (very understandable) anger and outrage caused a further disturbance of the already very tense situation, and instead of proper care and attempts to solve the problem, all the ignorant and incompetent airline staff did was to call "security" men.

If it were not so tragic for many hard-working people whose journey to their annual holiday is blighted by incompetence, mismanagement and a lack of interpersonal communication skills at Dublin Airport, one could sit back and laugh out loud. What a farce, what a shambolic and almost satirical situation!
Welcome to first world Ireland with third world technology and bronze age attitudes!

In a panic reaction to the chaos at its premises, the DAA doubled today its staff numbers "to deal with the increased passenger numbers" and the manifold problems at the airport. This can of course only be done by employing part-time personnel from agencies on short-term contracts, which means more untrained and inexperienced staff is populating the already chaotic mess that is the arrival point for most visitors to Ireland. DAA is also advising passengers to "check their flight details before flying". Well, that will be a great help, when even the ground staff of airlines is left widely in the dark and clueless.

Cautious as always and determined not to have any opinion at all, Dermot Mannion, the Chief Executive Officer of Ireland's flag carrier Aer Lingus, said today it would be "premature to apportion blame for the disruption".
I often wonder how whimps and yes-men get top jobs in our major industries and institutions...

Michael O'Leary (left), maverick Irish entrepreneur and boss of the most popular "low fare" airline Ryanair, is of a different calibre. He never minces his words and always calls a spade a spade. And good on him for that!
In an interview with the Morning Ireland programme on RTÉ Radio 1, O'Leary accused the IAA of being "not fit for purpose". He also predicted that the radar system would collapse again.

Later in the day the Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey (right), was forced to comment on the matter. He told the Dáil that the air traffic control radar system at Dublin Airport was "now operating at 70% capacity" and that "testing" continued on the network. He added that it was "not practical to maintain a back-up radar system", which exists at many other major airports in the developed world.
Dempsey also made clear that the IAA is fully responsible for the matter of air traffic control and air safety. He stopped short of blaming it for the complete chaos that engulfed Dublin Airport yesterday and today (and which is expected to continue until "after the weekend").

Although the blame does obviously rest with the operators of Dublin Airport - in particular IAA and DAA - I cannot refrain from some critical remarks of a more general kind.
Too many people seem to think that flying around the world, or flying to some far-away place where it is warmer than in Ireland, is a good idea and more or less "normal". I disagree.

The massive increase in air traffic, much of it created by many so-called "low fare" airlines and widely supported by numerous travel agencies and holiday companies, is a serious anomaly and one of the main reasons for the drastic change of the global climate. The selfish desire to spend a couple of weeks on some far-away beach, where the massive sunshine burns the pale northern skins and creates more cases of skin cancer, is frankly idiotic, as well as self-destructive - for those individuals who do it, and for the whole planet.

Having become aware of the problems of air traffic and the huge pollution it creates already in the late 1980s, I decided to do my personal bit towards a cleaner planet, no matter how small it might be.
During the 1970s and 1980s I used aeroplanes regularly and flew to many destinations all around the world. All these flights were undertaken in the line of my service in the Navy, and for many of them I used military aircraft. But I have never been a tourist or holidaymaker, not even for a single day in all my life.
When I retired from the Navy and my personal circumstances changed, I decided to live a more environmentally friendly life.
I have not used an aeroplane for more than 17 years, and will never fly again. All destinations I have to travel to can easily be reached by other means, even though it does take a bit more time to get there without flying.

I have no right to tell other people how to behave, what to do and what not. And I don't. All I can do is to live my own life according to principals of logic and sensibility. If anyone wishes to do the same, it would be very easy, very welcome and very helpful for the planet.

The Emerald Islander

People want Coast Guard Stations to remain

A delegation of residents from Valentia Island (off the west coast of Co. Kerry) visited the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport this afternoon and challenged the proposal by the Department of Transport and the management of the Irish Coast Guard to close down the coastal radio station on their island (pictured above).

People from Malin Head in Co. Donegal also attended the hearing, to protest against the planned closure of the coastal maritime station in their county.

The people from Valentia and Malin Head, calling themselves fittingly the 'Save Our Stations' (SOS) group, have accused the Coast Guard management of "protecting their own jobs against being moved out of Dublin" and giving a "misleading and factually inaccurate proposal" to the Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey to close the coastal marine radio stations.

The Coast Guard management has rejected this, claiming that "equipment at both stations is out-dated" and that it would be "more efficient to replace the two old stations with one modern station". This has been proposed for an urban centre in the West, possibly at Shannon.

What puzzles me, as a former naval officer, is that no-one in the Coast Guard management has thought of modernising the long-established stations and giving them up-to-date modern equipment. Too many people in the upper echelons of our Civil Service seem to forget that Ireland is an island and depends in many ways on the sea and on the maritime transport routes.

Since the last general election we have no longer a Department of the Marine, which - in a government re-organisation - has been incorporated into the Department of Transport, whose priorities are landbased and whose current head - Minister Noel Dempsey - has no interest in the sea.

The lighthouses around our coastline have been automated now for nearly twenty years, with no more lighthouse keepers being recruited. Thus the nation's service to the maritime community is ever more depleted of the human element. I think this is a very bad mistake. Even though the principal functions of a lighthouse can now be done easily by automated computerised systems, no machine can do the watch duties the traditional lighthouse keepers performed for centuries.

And now the Coast Guard wants to give up their long-established coastal radio stations as well, obviously ignoring the fact that they have done great service to shipping and also helped to save many lives at sea. The residents of Valentia Island and Malin Head, who know from first-hand experience how valuable these stations are, presented their valid arguments today to politicians from Dail and Seanad. One can only hope that they were not only listening, but will act soon on behalf of the coastal and maritime communities and protect the stations from closure.

The Emerald Islander

P.S. Meanwhile, in a separate development, the managements of the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) and the telecommunications company Eircom have rejected statements made in the Coast Guard's report about the low quality of their service to coastal areas. It remains a fact, however, that electricity supply and modern telecommunications services - in particular the now ever more important broadband service for access to the internet - are not of the same quality and standard in the rural areas along the west coast as one finds them in our cities. This situation needs to change drastically and quickly.