It seems appropriate that I begin this new blog with a short piece about Irish roads. They’re crap.
Every time I have the misfortune of driving on one I remark to myself how I really must get this blog up and running and vent some frustration that will otherwise be left fester and boil and end up reducing my life by many years – a fate suffered by many Irish road users.
I know that the government will point out that they are building roads yada yada yada. But to still be without a main road between Dublin and Cork, Dublin and Limerick, Dublin and Galway and Dublin and Waterford is ludicrous. To believe that this is the norm in the world and that we needed to ‘catch up’ is to believe in the existence of leprechauns and faeries. Let’s face it – our infrastructure is rubbish and nobody in charge seems to know what the hell they are doing. Didn’t you ever notice that it is really only politicians or civil servants who tell us that we are ‘catching up’? Why don’t the Luas lines join up? Why wasn’t m50 overcrowding solved before the port tunnel was built? Why can the Spanish build an underground rail system in Barcelona and Balboa efficiently, quickly and cost effectively and yet one line that isn’t even entirely underground is estimated to cost us around one BILLION euro? Ever get the feeling that this ‘catching up’ process is going to go on forever?
There is no excuse for the road between Cork and Dublin. Sections of the road are no less than a bloody embarrassment. This is allegedly the main road between our two biggest cities. I submit that there is no main road. Only a road which happens to go between the two. I am choosing this road purposely as an example, because if we cannot connect our two main cities with a decent road in almost a hundred years of independence then it follows that other roads are perhaps even worse. There are bends on the Cork-Dublin road that should have been removed long ago. That they remain to this day is laughable. That commuters and traders sit in their vehicles at Abbeyleix for an hour or more at peak times is a disgrace. There are worse stories than this. If I were to highlight them all then this article would be hundreds of pages long.
All I can say for sure is that driving in Ireland is one of the most stressful things that anyone can do. That our ‘leaders’ have allowed this situation to develop is nothing short of a disgrace.
