Letters 28-12-2006
Letters
Port tunnel
Port Tunnel a success at last
I wish to warmly welcome the opening of the Dublin Port Tunnel – albeit very much delayed and costing a lot more than originally budgeted for. Although it is early days, it does already seemed to have led to a tremendous improvement in traffic-flow in certain areas of the city such as the East Wall Road, Fairview, the North Strand and the Quays, and long may this persist! Hopefully, things should get even better in the new year, when cars are allowed to use the Port Tunnel, even if they have to pay tolls for the service. The less traffic, and especially trucks, on our streets, the better!
Paul Kinsella
Santry, Dublin 9
Monitoring of Society
Technological oppression has begun
Ireland is now recognised as the second happiest place in the EU which is hardly surprising given the freedom that each individual enjoys and the relative lack of interference from the state compared with other countries. So how does it propose to continue this blessed condition? By the erection of thousands of CCTV systems, remote monitoring of our school children, the threat of an intrusive ID card and the issuing of chipped passports ready for the inclusion of biometric information (which have already proved to be totally insecure). That is how!How has any of this been justified? Where does it mean we are heading? Why the sudden need to harvest information of the activities and personal details of a whole population on such a grand scale? It is said that knowledge is power, a fact that has not been overlooked by the UK government which is busily erecting a virtual penal colony for its citizens, subjugating them to a vast system of interlinked databases over which they have no control. New Labour are, in effect, out to nationalise everybody's identity and it is imperative that Ireland does not fall under the same yoke of technological oppression that has fallen upon the British if it is not to suffer the depression and misery that affects many of its citizens as they stagger from speed camera to fingerprint check to DNA sample via facial recognition software and compulsory surrender of their medical records to the state, to name but a handful of vile devices now being deployed against the population. Full of complacency the English have maintained that it could never happen to them. Well it has, and we must ensure that it doesn't cross the water. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Let us be on our guard.
Justin Roberts
Lattin, Co Tipperary
Corrib dispute:
The true intentions of Shell to Sea
There are some misconceptions regarding the Shell to Sea campaign that need to be put right. Firstly, the campaign is to relocate the facility to a place where the potential danger to the public and damage to the environment are both minimised without affecting the harvesting of the gas or the potential for local jobs and services. A shallow-water facility near to the coast would fulfil this requirement. This is not a campaign “against the project” or “against Shell”, as some claim.Secondly, the campaign wishes to encourage a re-negotiation of the deal so that Ireland and, in particular, Co Mayo, can reap worthwhile benefits rather than just giving away our natural resources because of a deal made by a corrupt politician.Regarding potential danger, we should bear in mind that high-pressure gas pipelines have been known to explode – horrific examples being the Piper Alpha disaster (pictured) and the explosion at Carlsbad, New Mexico on 19 August, 2000. The Carlesbad explosion wiped out a family of 12 who were camping over 200 metres away. The proposed pipeline through Rossport would pass just 70 metres from people's homes and less from the public road (actually going under it at one point) – it is beyond belief that so-called experts in health and safety can consider this to be safe. The Carlsbad pipeline ruptured due to internal corrosion (rust) caused by impurities drawn up with the gas – nobody yet knows exactly what or how much impurities will come up with the Corrib gas. It is also a fact that corrosion varies with temperature – there has been no suggestion of monitoring the temperature of the overland section of the proposed pipeline.Dr Mark Garavan (Shell to Sea spokesperson) says “Surely the time has come to pause, take stock and agree a proper development that meets with local consent and delivers real national benefits.” This is the voice of reason and common sense that the decision makers would do well to heed.
Bob Wilson
Clare
Shell to Sea group
As Gaeilge:
English, not Irish, forced on us
It is the English Language that has been forced down our throats, and not gaeilge. Think about it. To pass your Leaving or to get into college, you'll need a pass in English. To get any job in Ireland you must at least be able to speak English. So stuffed full of English are the Irish now that they have no space left to consume even their own language.
Rossa Ó Snodaigh
Co Liatroma
US use of Shannon:
Haughey didn't bow to US pressureI fully accept the findings of the Moriarty tribunal in connection with Charles Haughey.On a totally separate level, I doubt if Haughey would have let Shannon be used as an American military base. The war in Iraq has claimed the lives of approximately 655,000 people and Bertie Ahern drifts on in a cloud with his nice gang who are totally oblivious, indifferent and heartless to the heinous and tortuous multiplicity of daily killings.Shannon was very opportune when the French refused to allow United States military planes overfly its sovereign space.Previously, Haughey had refused to support the Britain during its invasion of the Malvinas Islands (8,000 miles away), who were assisted by US president Ronald Reagan. Haughey was never forgiven for this independent stand, but he stood firm in spite of the UK's virulent media criticisms.Peter KennedySutton,Dublin 13Give me back Haughey's democracyCharles Haughey is reported to have said, in relation to the current Fianna Fáil / PD coalition headed by his protégé Bertie Ahern, that it was the “worst Government in the history of the state – the worst”, because they “can't seem to get anything right” and had “no real vision of the future of Ireland”.How right he was and is. Give me Mr Haughey's democracy any day and a return to a neutral, independent country with a self-identity!
keith nolan
Carrick-on-Shannon,
Co Leitrim
Response to Emma Browne :
Draw the line on welfare payments
I refer to the article by Emma Browne (‘Social welfare payments leave families behind', Village, 21 December) about the needs of those on social benefits. While of course it is the responsibility of the state to provide for those who are most needy, a line should be drawn at the excessive payments which are handed out to these families. Why should it not be the case that a lone-parent family be penalised financially to discourage the rise in single-parent families? Or that a family which is too large, where the parents are not able to supply the basic needs to their family, be likewise awarded a deficit in their payments? To have such a gloomy, bleak and pessimistic outlook on today's society, which your magazine has weekly, not only does that society harm but also brings down the morale of the persons within that society who actually go out and earn a honest living everyday and who would not even think about claiming benefit since to them, it would be a social taboo to do so. Do not put it in people's minds that claiming benefits is a right, as it is not; it is a privilege that our state has given to its citizens to be used in times of extreme hardship. The state, in cases where the needs are not so great, should stagger the payments they hand out to match the individual wants of the person in need. Thus the system to evaluate who needs what would be real and nobody could accuse anyone else of not receiving what they feel is due to them.
Thomas Devine
Mullingar,
Co Westmeath
Statement:
Luas should run from O'Connell Street to Finglas
Connecting the two Luas Lines in the city centre must be a top priority. But rather than splitting the lines between O'Connell Street and Marlborough Street, which is the Rail Procurement Agency's preferred route, we would run the lines from College Green up O'Connell Street and then around Parnell Square to link up with the disused Broadstone Rail line. The Luas could then run all the way out to Finglas.We fear that opposition from Dublin Bus and Dublin City Council to any development on O'Connell Street has encouraged the RPA to settle for an inferior routing with the service returning via Marlborough Street, Hawkins Street and College Street. The plan was always to extend this line north to the old Broadstone line and we wonder how that service will work when the southbound route avoids O'Connell Street? Dublin's planners should have learned that scaling back transport projects in response to short-term concerns never works in the long run.At the moment most Dublin Bus services run up and down O'Connell Street. However, if we had integrated ticketing and co-operation between the two agencies we could provide a proper mesh of transport services where the public could hop on and off different services to make their trip as quick and efficient as possible.Dublin City Council may have valid reasons for wanting a diversion to Marlborough Street as Luas Lines do bring urban regeneration. However, the avoidance of O'Connell Street for fear of disrupting the current traffic arrangements makes little sense. Even after the massive renovation of the street the traffic management system, particularly for cyclists, is a real mess.Interestingly the publication of the preferred city centre routing comes at the same time we have another report from an economic research agency calling into question investment in rail-based transport systems. The same economists who saw no merit in the Dart or the first two Luas lines will no doubt also be questioning this project.The problem with relying on such economic analysis alone is that it can contrive a cost benefit to justify any road project but lacks any sense of the values we get when we build public transport. The Dublin transport system is now so gridlocked we need to rely on real engineering solutions rather than the ‘hocus pocus' economic ideology which has proven such a failure.
Eamon Ryan
Green Party