Alek Smart

Heuston…We have a problem…copy ?
The Dubberlin Taxi Drivers have moved back into possesion of their OCS Median rank.
Interestingly,all it took to entice them back was the removal of the Builders Railings.
The necessary Statutory Signage has as yet to be nailed to the stainless posts but I“m sure that will be attended to within the life of the current administration.
Now for the interestin bits…
The design of the median appears to present a considerable challenge to the Taxi Drivers in relation to swinging around from South to North in order to keep the queue moving.
Basically it looks as if the Taxi must now swing VERY wide and actually jut out into the moving Northbound Traffic Lane.
Secondly…The situation at the Rank itself allows intending pax to swing the NEARSIDE doors of the Taxi open as it sits on the median,invariably this means the passengers backside and more worryingly the Cab Door/s now also jut out into the traffic flow…which is quite a fast one.
The new right-turn arrangement into C Brugha St which has a small median interruptor to keep the Taxi`s seperate now means Taxi`s have to jockey for position depending on which direction they are headed.
It a Dogs Dinner of an arrangement,resembles a plan drawn up on a Woodbines Packet and is above all DANGEROUS.
Yet in this strange netherworld where Dublin City Council`s supreme planners range far and wide there is no Danger,not even a nod in that direction.
Just as those Sculptures resenble a Lewis Carroll storyboard so too does the OCS Taxi Rank ..
Still…I suppose it IS the only remaining example of what might have been had the Emperor Elect Ivor Callelly actually survived his spat with the Brothers of the Brush.
:p

I`m beginning to wonder if we in Ireland have any REAL gra for this 21st century economy nonsense at all,especially when it comes to our Air Travel arrangements.

I attended a public meeting over three years ago now in thew CityWest Hotel (Hmmmm).
It was a presentation by Tony Ryan the doyen of RyanAir and it showcased that companies proposal to develop Baldonnel Aerodrome as its Dublin Hub.
Under the Ryanair plan the Ryans would not only supply the Air Corps with a fully functional HQ but would construct a seperate network of access roads to both the N7 and N4 Trunk Roads at NO charge to the State.
Added to this was the proximity of the LUAS Red Line which would be a stones throw from Belgard Station (Immediately beneath The Flight Path in fact)

Well Holy God …..The reaction of much of the audience was akin to being asked to eat goats dung .
“Wa about the Noize”
“Wa about de Traffik”
“Wa about the Sheep”
And so on and so forth ad nauseum……

As Dublin continues to expand in it`s presently unplanned,uncontrolled,unsupervised manner it struck me that Dr Ryans proposal was one of the few I had come across where the proponents had taken a look at the ACTUALITY of where the City is rather than some happy clappy vaporous concept drawn on an Apple Mac screen.

Yet today we are no nearer to a satisfactory resolution of the Collinstown Chronicles as Dublin Airport struggles to overcome its all to apparent physical limitations as an international Airport.

It appears an eminently sensible solution to allow Dublin to have TWO Airports both from a strategic (Alternate) point of view and a strictly commercial one.
Yet we persist in staring these eminently sensible and commonsense types of solutions before finally walking away shaking our heads and muttering darly about finding some reason NOT to do anything that might smack of REAL progress !! 😡

Its worth noting how the Capel St/Bolton St/Parnell St/Domnick St area is TOTALLY ignored by Bus Atha Cliath in its wisdom…For example any Gentlemen seeking to travel to “Dublins Premier Gentlemens Club” by Public Omnibus will be sadly disappointed as will those folk who wish to go to the Cinema down that neck of the woods.
All this wilderness in Public Transport terms whilst the apartments are already being populated.
Ah well at least the “New” bus routes will be trundling along O Connell St……….:D

Perhaps if the area is incapable of supporting either Fresh Fish or Italianate Pasta outlets some consideration could be given to a leaseback arrangement with Charlie Duffy who operated a very popular and efficient Breakers Yard in Smithfield up until the day of reckoning.
They shifted poor oul Charlie out to a souless industrial unit on the Long Miler where he still manages to turn a cent keeping Irelands wheels turning.
Surely Car Breakers yards have aesthetic reghts too…and another thing !…with Dublin City Councils predisposition for allocating Car space in EVERY commercial or resedential development it approves perhaps a Breakers Yard IS actually more in keeping with the intrinsic cultural ethos of Smithfield,or indeed any other DCC area…..;)

Correct Andrew P,Video evidence is indeed used to “Support” prosecutions,however in this instance the suggestion is that somehow the Gardai will be able to nail a great many gougers merely on Video Shots alone….and that will not happen.
The Gardai can and do use Vid to support an accusation however it does not necessarily follow that a Judge has to attach ANY credence to that footage and in many cases a defence counsel will seek to have such footage restricted in its viewing to exclude the Jury.
The Law and particularly great big pus infected lumps of Irish Civil and Criminal law is not easily modernised or modified and the lower orders are more than well aware of those deficiencies.
Mar Shàmpla..do u think Bus Atha Cliath CCTV cameras manage to capture images of ANY persons smoking on its Buses…It sure certainly does and by the skipload too….
Can the company bring a successful prosecution on the basis of this Live,In-Your-Face evidence ?
Not on your life it can`t.
The offence must be witnessed either by an Bus Inspector,an Authorized Departmental Official,a Member of an Garda Siochana and only then can the No Smoking leglislation take its full course.
The reality of Last Saturday is that the Majority of those who took an active and well thought out part in the rioting can walk away secure in the knowledge that there is nothing the State can,or want`s to do about it.
There are SO many holes in the official story regarding Lack of Preparedness now that a half-decent Defence Lawyer would stick it right up the Garda collective backside and then move on to submit a statement of claim in relation to negligence on the part of the City Council resulting in his poor bewildered clients having to lash out in order to clear a path to safety etc etc…
Again the simple question…”Who ordered the sealing-up of the City Centre Litter Bins last Wednesday and what was the rationale behind that order ? “.
Whether it was preparedness or fear,that decision reflected a level of concern that Asst Commissioner McHugh and City Council Luminaries INSIST was not there.

Mind U,its good to see City Manager John Fitzgerald sufficiently aroused to speak about the Council having to return for another look at restrictive leglislation regarding public gatherings on O Connell St.

Last time the Corpo tried that tactic they had to drop it quick-sharp after the Liberal Elite took umbrage at perhaps Senator Proffessor Norris being refused permission to perambulate along the street in pursuit of such hedonistic delights as Lambs Liver and Black Puddin of a Bloomsday…..which my friends presents the greater threat ?????

If anything positive can be said of Saturdays events it is how at Long Last the O Connell St project is being described as a “Building Site”.
For far too long now those of us who have to attempt to work in and around the street have been told its NOT actually a building site at all,merely a temporary disruption which can be easily catered for by excercising a little more care and observation.
The City Council sent out a fella called Charlie Lowe to bat on RTE news and he actually referred to his Duck as just that…a Duck…cos it looks like one,and it quacks like one…
The same Mr Lowe also without a trace of Irony said that the City Council could not have forecast this awfulness etc…just as the Gardai did`nt think it might happen either.
There is also now the benefit of having some sort of Game Plan for The Saint Patricks Day “Festival” which is imminent.
Many of the more youthful local colour who parttook fully in the site-clearance on Saturday would be well known faces to those who work or play around the “North Inner-City” and these young folks can usually be found on the 17Th in and around the same area attempting to do pretty much the same as what occurred on-site.
Now I am not suggesting for a moment that Saturdays hi-jinks could be seen as a dry run for the 17th but……….Prudent planning might just be in order….?
Mind you the view from Camera Number 3 does rather bring Baron Hausmann`s theories about wide uninterrupted avenues allowing for a clear and wide field of fire for the Troops into perspective..!! 🙂

As Bertrand Aherne might say….L`Etat..?…C`est Moi…..!!!!

C Panda makes a very valid point on the DUTC`s far sightedness and innovative management style.
One could argue that the end of the DUTC`s input into Dublins Public Transport provision marked the very definite beginning of a spiral from which we show little signs of recovering from.
Today we see this “Interference” based rubbish continuing as both Bus Eireann and Bus Atha Cliath remain bound by Ministerial edict to display All destinations in either Irish only OR in dual format.
There exists no such requirement on any of the private operators,who as a result manage to get by by using English language destiantions only.
Even Bus Atha Cliath`s Digital or LED Destination Displays are prevanted from fulfilling their essential role of INFORMING the travelling public as to destinations by the requirement to include space hungry Irish translations rather than utilising the space to provide more comprehensive information which could be accessed by ALL rather than just the dwindling number of urban gaelgeoiri.
Not to put too fine a point on it there is now a far greater need for a Polish/Mandarin/Czech Destination translation than an Irish one……..
Come to think of it Mr deValera had Spanish blood in him did he not….????? 😉

As a daily user of O Connell St end to end I must confess to an increasing concern at the emerging end-game.
My expectations (elevated perhaps) were of a wide traffic-free environment which was also devoid of clutter.
This open-vista looked good in the CG images and encouraged me to keep schtum on my concerns.
What we appear to be facing into as an outcome of the total HAR Programme is essentially a road resurfacing and cobblelock job.
I get a very strong sense of Dilution,especially at the Northern End of the street where the primacy of the private car has it seems overridden the potential for increased pedestrian/public transport usage.
One only has to watch a full size Articulated Truck attemting to reverse into Princes St to get a feel for the loss of direction which the street now appears to stand for.
When added to what appears to be a total indifference to the issue of signage,street furniture and public lighting we really are back to asking ….”Is it worth it” ???? 🙁

And Freak-Show it surely is…however,it seems as if the single freak show is going to be replaced by no less than THREE seperate but invisible Stealth Freaks Shows which will run their virtual hands along your inside leg to remove 3 seperate amounts which are presently handed over to the Bearded Lady in the West-Link booth.
Can we please have an on-board Poll as to the amount of members who expect the current €1.80 car toll will be replaced by three 60c ones over the shorter intermediate stretches…?
Paddy Power would be well advised to have a peep at this one…
The central overriding issue here is that National Toll Roads will once again emerge from this sordid little local arrangement with their financial standing guaranteed.
The very existance of the West-Link in its Toll collecting form should be regarded as our very own statue of Saadam Hussein or Nicolae Ceaucescu and if this country ever manages to work up enough interest for a revolution then its here the TV cameras should focus.

The West-Link saga was formulated during the absolute worst era of modern Irish public representation and planning.
It featured a cast list of what were,even then,serious names from the A-list of back slapping hail fellow-well met
political creeps.
Michael Jackson could not have made a better choice for the cast of “Thriller” and perhaps even did manage to fit a few of them in.

This latest West-Link NTR wheeze simply side steps the central issue of admitting to a public stitch-up which has gone on to fabulously enrich a select few commercially minded “Friends of the Party” types and their well placed investment vehicles.

Here again we see NEW charges and NEW methods of collecting them,all of which are ADDITIONAL to what we are paying through Central Taxation and Indirect Taxation which in the relevant period has never been adjusted downwards to balance the ship a little.

We pay Full PRSI up to the cut-off income point then magically lose the entitlement to the services we have already paid for thus bringing private health insurance providers into the fray.
We pay full Motor Tax and Insurance Levies for our cars,yet we now find a requirement to pay-per-Km to use the same roads whose construction we already paid for and whose upkeep we continually fund…

The Irish style of Public Administration is based firmly on the principle of extracting a double payment for as many services as possible.
A cynic might say the first payment is to fund the service,whilst the second is to give the lad a “bit of an oul return on his investment” a principle apparently dear to the heart of the Minister for Finance.

T21 is looming ever larger on the horizon and the burning question should be…..
“Would YOU give these people €34 BILLION to spend on ANYTHING”..???? 😡 😡

This thread reflects all that is MOST important concerning how a Living Modern City operates.
By far the biggest hue and cry over the initial DCC signage was raised by one Mr Seamus (Batty) Brennan,a man of provincial stock,who upon returning to the ould sod after a spell out foreign was hugely put about when his driver got losht on Dorset St.

Now the REAL reason of course was yet another tiresome insider power struggle between Mr Owen Keegan,late of this parish,then the holder of the title….”Director” of Traffic and in the other corner,various ladies and gentlemen of the Department for the Environment who must remain anonymous in the interest of State Security.
Owen,it seems had not run his new signage past the conclave in the Dept and so they were havin a hissy fit….BUT..The relevant Minister,Batty Brennan was on his holidays or at least out to lunch and so they had to wait for their sweet revenge.

Well,Batty,who had built an entire career on his being seen as a Man of Action,leapt into action and out of the Mercedes to immediately demand their removal.

Being a Minister of an t-Oireachtas gives one a little clout these days and Dublins Traffic tsar,our Transport Supremo and sometimes “Acting” City Manager suddenly found himself with no clothes on….and it was reputed had to cycle around Dublin himself with a vice grips to remove the dreadful “Overinformative” signage.

As is the norm in this odd little entity we describe as a democratic republic,there has been no follow up,no admission of responsibility and most appropriately not a single resignation,dismissal or demotion.

In fact it`s all forgotten about now and nobody except picky oul gits with an interest in Streetscapes or with little else to worry about have any concern over the importance of what occured on Batty`s journey in from Collinstown that day.

It`s how we do things here and any attempt at improving or even suggesting an alternative will be met with extreme predjudice by the establishment.

The Bus Lanes are a case in point as no amount of White Paint makes the slightest difference UNTIL the regulatory signage is in place wit a requirement for two seperate signs firstly advising of the presence of the Bus/Cycle lane with the second and subsequent advising of the hours of operation.
No sign=No bus lane.

In spite of what Mr Ahern and others are attempting to do on the Indian subcontinent the reality of modern Ireland is a country which shares a level of administrative impoverishment with the worst that can be found out Madras way whilst not coming within a Water Buffalo`s roar of their best !

It`s the little things that catch them out,the thread that once pulled,strips the emperor naked….
Home Farm Road Drumcondra,recently resurfaced in one of the smoothest and well executed reestablishment jobs in Dublin.
All went well until last week when,better late than never,some contractor or other returned to the fray and dug a trench across the bottom end….after the ritual poking around they performed an ancient druidic ritual (Cant let the Hindu`s have all the fun) and backfulled the trench,topping it off with a few shovels of chippins…

Well the “Lads” have gone and the backfilling has followed the laws of Fizzicks and now lies at a level of 25-50mm below the edge of the trench which is felt by each and every Bus Passneger or Motorcyclist as they crash over the thing on the approach to the junction.

When added to the likes of Leeson St,Mount St and a hundred other locations around Dublin it simply demonstrates the total divorce from Professional Civil Engineering or Public Safety standards which is enjoyed by those who lurk deep within Civic Offices….

And while I`m at it and in conclusion Madam Chairman..has anybody in the audience taken note of just how many of our Traffic Sign and Signal mounting poles are knocked over,twisted or otherwise flattened and then left to lie recumbent for ever more…To corroborate merely drive along to YOUR local roundabout or major junction and count……

Meantime Batty has moved to simpler pastimes which merely involve keeping the great unwashed happy by throwing Rose Hip Petal s,Free Bus Passes,GP Visit Cards,Private Rented Accomodation Payments and assorted other bags of crisps to the hoards who rush after the rapidly vanishing Mercedes…..

George Orwell eat ur bleedin heart out !! 😮