tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119655152024-03-07T09:53:57.418+00:00Cuffe StreetMusings from Ciarán Cuffe, Green Party campaigner and Green Party MEP for DublinCiaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.comBlogger230125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-83409882094306235082024-01-08T21:33:00.002+00:002024-01-08T21:33:25.070+00:00Burning of the Shipwright guesthouse in Ringsend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUQSNgiYRGe3rmze8OCpwhtywjUpil7dz-mAtgKTC8uMxaBfQOACbh-5JXwFmEaW8mluu3DEo-AzthDv7wGctVc951TaieHfXf84tUlgk8hg_mQ7ipJ4SCEnZ3Jv3T0jxtMCbGrtx4FqVIH_MoVnCYJ97A3LY_uObHnmuN6vDgpBWOLPqYVxzf_w/s888/Shipwright.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="888" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUQSNgiYRGe3rmze8OCpwhtywjUpil7dz-mAtgKTC8uMxaBfQOACbh-5JXwFmEaW8mluu3DEo-AzthDv7wGctVc951TaieHfXf84tUlgk8hg_mQ7ipJ4SCEnZ3Jv3T0jxtMCbGrtx4FqVIH_MoVnCYJ97A3LY_uObHnmuN6vDgpBWOLPqYVxzf_w/s320/Shipwright.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Burning down buildings like the Shipwright pub and guesthouse in Ringsend is an obscene act at a time when thousands of people are in need of accommodation. Up to 14 homeless families could have been housed here before last week's senseless and dangerous attack. This is a serious crime carrying heavy sentences, and the arsonists can and should be brought to justice. <br /><br />Immigration to Ireland is a good thing. If it weren’t for those who have come to our shores, Ireland could not provide the doctors, the key workers, the carers that we rely on. From your Dublin Bus driver to the shop assistant in your local Centra, to the surgeons in Beaumont, immigrants keep this country going. But for me it’s also personal. My mother was an immigrant who found a new life and raised her family in Ireland.<br /><br />And yes, immigration reforms are needed at EU level, including reshaping Frontex, and faster decisions here at home, and better communication, but pushbacks at sea are wrong, and leaving people to drown in the Mediterranean is immoral, and don’t tell me that those seeking international protection in times of violence and persecution do not deserve our help, and don’t give me this ‘unvetted young men of military age’ small-minded nonsense. <br /><br />And of course, we need to ramp up housing construction, just like we did almost a century ago when Herbert Simms designed these homes (pan to buildings behind) for Dublin Corporation back in the 1930s, and remember, back then people objected to homes for those in need as well.<br /><br />This is a time for compassion, and supporting people who need and deserve safety and shelter - whether those are homeless families or people fleeing violence and persecution abroad.Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-3337965897930365042023-09-14T17:55:00.004+01:002024-01-31T13:50:05.648+00:00Low-carbon travel from Dublin to Strasbourg<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7c95iztocjaYNl_nUOe090TvemaCuWT566PddcqXRO4B841w6_9vX21Imb3Od1621_AVKs4hA5Jowd_lYK6wvlTjBN0VBjzD39H4zs1obmVEbFmSGgo2fGGRfPAY-VvtaVy6oKinDC29McVLqIumwQmzY6A_cGB1Iu56Ysc8OjbeXwKhJHOs1Ag/s1540/20230910_115702.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1540" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7c95iztocjaYNl_nUOe090TvemaCuWT566PddcqXRO4B841w6_9vX21Imb3Od1621_AVKs4hA5Jowd_lYK6wvlTjBN0VBjzD39H4zs1obmVEbFmSGgo2fGGRfPAY-VvtaVy6oKinDC29McVLqIumwQmzY6A_cGB1Iu56Ysc8OjbeXwKhJHOs1Ag/w400-h225/20230910_115702.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This week I was in Strasbourg from Dublin for European Parliament debates and votes this week. I traveled by buses, trains and ferry. If you’re curious about <span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">‘low-carbon’</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> travel you might like this account of my journey. Living in Stoneybatter in Dublin 7 I was able to walk down the road and take the FerryLink <a href=".https://nolancoaches.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Stena-Line-Shuttle-Bus-Timetable-01.06.2023.pdf">shuttle </a></span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href=".https://nolancoaches.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Stena-Line-Shuttle-Bus-Timetable-01.06.2023.pdf">bus</a> </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">that goes from the Ashling Hotel near Heuston Station to the ferry terminals at Dublin Port, stopping en route at Bachelors Walk and Customs House Quay in the city centre. </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A trip down the Liffey </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Quays</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">: ‘</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Grand yet human in scale, varying, yet orderly</i>” according to the Architectural Review back in 1974‘ brought me to the </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Irish ferries </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">terminal</span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, dwarfed by the 12 deck high MV Ulysses behind. Once you check in, a shuttlebus brings you a few hundred metres to the front of the High Speed Craft Dublin Swift which gets to Holyhead in just two hours From Dublin Port we head past the Pigeon House chimneys and out into Dublin Bay past the Poolbeg Lighthouse heading east to Wales. Interestingly the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSC_Dublin_Swift">HSC Dublin Swift</a> started life as a United States troop carrier, and was used in rescue operations after the Japanese Tsunami back in 2011. So even though the leg room is good, I’m a bit nostalgic for the old HSC Jonathan Swift which had a more comfortable interior. </span></span><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxnOoUDCMlvhGAxgmT_FPKETMdjhAB3r7O-Mc-0iUb55IXaMsq8rr2dH1rpy5_-StxrOXF4lZLPw9N7dBO-6ijAsd6EFaUIb8K2dx7Z5zQ_kypdDv-R3-sWov3AkLqq17w5D0i4E_9n08DjoyQ21iMZqD6pPhv12qEvq46vsKx_uGASC4OHav7Yw/s456/20230507_102818%20ticket.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="215" data-original-width="456" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxnOoUDCMlvhGAxgmT_FPKETMdjhAB3r7O-Mc-0iUb55IXaMsq8rr2dH1rpy5_-StxrOXF4lZLPw9N7dBO-6ijAsd6EFaUIb8K2dx7Z5zQ_kypdDv-R3-sWov3AkLqq17w5D0i4E_9n08DjoyQ21iMZqD6pPhv12qEvq46vsKx_uGASC4OHav7Yw/w400-h189/20230507_102818%20ticket.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">On board there’s time for coffee, and decent wi-fi for Zoom calls, though the sky was looking fairly gray after last week’s mini-heatwave. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SailRail">SailRail </a>ticket is a wonderfully old-fashioned piece of paper, and their train image looks a bit like an old CIE 001 Class locomotive from 1955, built in the old<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan-Vickers" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Metropolitan-Vickers</span></a><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> plant in</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Manchester</span></a><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> Why Sailrail? Well, it’s better for the planet, about six times better, so as someone who travels a lot for work by planes, trains and ferries, I try where I can to let the train <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UexudZ4aOUk">take the strain</a></span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omoqApq99r0" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></a> <span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Once I arrived in Holyhead after a two hour crossing it was down with the gangplank, and off go the cars. Cue disgruntled mutterings from those of us who have to wait for the bus to the ferry terminal. You then walk through the terminal to the rail station where there’s a welcome stand and the women there gave me a map of Holyhead, and some key Welsh phrases to learn. It was a lovely touch from th Welsh Tourism agency. Then it was time to hop on a train and head to Chester via the north Wales coastline, with fine views of the </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Gwynt y Môr <a href="https://www.gymofto.co.uk/">wind farm</a>, 15 km. offshore.</span><a href="https://www.gymofto.co.uk/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: black; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></a> </span><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwLwGgWlMDwqjcKB2GflO3s0RzU9OYBqaG3zww-whSy2nP7efjND39MGI9g2nxusE_J06jcrgPD8CD48r3ZFCuKieMUnKmYljRnN18LqUjSw9inq_-H42XVku-yhopYH8eJAeUbWU33aVtSSsVPzKq2IY1Ze7Tg9hQ_tOUphX532SJQDFdH9ssIw/s1155/20230911_185604.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1155" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwLwGgWlMDwqjcKB2GflO3s0RzU9OYBqaG3zww-whSy2nP7efjND39MGI9g2nxusE_J06jcrgPD8CD48r3ZFCuKieMUnKmYljRnN18LqUjSw9inq_-H42XVku-yhopYH8eJAeUbWU33aVtSSsVPzKq2IY1Ze7Tg9hQ_tOUphX532SJQDFdH9ssIw/w400-h300/20230911_185604.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I changed to a faster train at Chester that powered down to London Euston through Stafford and Milton Keynes. When the first phase of High Speed 2 opens in the late 2020s it may shave an hour of the 4 hour Holyhead London trip. On arriving at Euston, after a four hour trip from Holyhead I take a 15 minute walk to St.Pancras International, avoiding the polluted Euston Road by taking the ‘<i>Wellbeing Walk</i>’ through <a href="https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol24/pt4/pp118-123">Somers Town</a>. It was my first time using the ‘<i><a href="https://www.eurostar.com/fr-fr/voyage/en-route/smartcheck">Smart Check</a></i>’ app at St. Pancras which allows you to fast-track straight through check-in without a ticket check, and side-skip UK passport checks.There I hopped on a Eurostar headed for Paris. You head across the English Channel through a tunnel that is 50km long, that was opened in 1993.You arrive after two hours in Paris Gare du Nord and the clock has moved forward by an hour so it is early evening.I then took a short stroll to Gare de l’Est. I had some time to spare in in Paris and was impressed with the number of cyclists. There has been a huge rise in cycling numbers here under Mayor Anne Hidalgo. At 8.30pm I get on to my last train, a two hour hop by TGV across France to Strasbourg on the Franco-German border, and time to prepare for tomorrow’s meetings. It was a full-on day of travel, but a significantly lower environmental footprint then flying, and more leg-room and less airport hassle.</span><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHN9oeBWawCvaPKicgDzMnHW9RiyL5YJy_stjAUFumReQzYHKXwLw6hAAMB8fK-y46xyAQeOceBnan6Mu9oNzWk0x5AUfy8f1TXROdwKIdUhp0t0yybs3fQei2kSFc3uGOW33xwy1d5Q4rRGUxbFbs5zyuUVx5YPTFswdtOwdCRPnFk8258lW2FQ/s1155/20230911_222859%20str.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1155" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHN9oeBWawCvaPKicgDzMnHW9RiyL5YJy_stjAUFumReQzYHKXwLw6hAAMB8fK-y46xyAQeOceBnan6Mu9oNzWk0x5AUfy8f1TXROdwKIdUhp0t0yybs3fQei2kSFc3uGOW33xwy1d5Q4rRGUxbFbs5zyuUVx5YPTFswdtOwdCRPnFk8258lW2FQ/w400-h300/20230911_222859%20str.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As regards cost: the Eurostar and continental trains prices rise closer to departure. A Sailrail ticket generally cost €52s to London, the Ferrylink bus costs €4.50. Looking at prices, the London Paris Eurostar costs €86 in a fortnight’s time, and the French train ticket €45 from SNCF, so under €200 for the whole trip. It is true that flights are much cheaper! They often are, as airlines don’t pay tax on their fuel, but the Greens in the European Parliament are working on ‘<a href="https://www.greens-efa.eu/dossier/fairer-fares/">fairer fares</a>’ and a level playing field. <span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">Carbon? Sure, Ferries use marine diesel oil, a dirty fuel on each trip, but foot passengers are only a small share of that, the bulk is cars and trucks. On balance the SailRail combo is <a href="http://gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors-2021">many times</a> cleaner than flying, </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Recently Minister Eamon Ryan and his French counter-part <a href="https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/6e9e8-new-step-towards-a-combined-train-and-ferry-ticket-between-ireland-and-france-in-2024/">announced </a>improvements that are making Sailrail journeys between Ireland and France easier. </span><span style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Here’s a <a href="https://www.thejournal.ie/new-sailrail-route-green-meps-6163851-Sep2023/">write-up</a> in @TheJournal about the Sailrail changes that will hopefully make low-carbon travel a more attractive option</span><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></span></div><div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-U2lSDXPAMdyRVMkl4YL22BkEvPyxi_ybu6wIh1VhumkA6ljy1D7lOL6AJo1F3lT172ihkhhake2KikI0BmLwu3-EGtj-yH7aqMHCb-nh7JCyiQUt9dGoU3U1jUC54NHtSdOdhwuJALdBfHCKjUDxaSK6LJHPYAyMK0TCQYMuYrixsfqwq2t-eA/s1155/20230912_161425.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1155" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-U2lSDXPAMdyRVMkl4YL22BkEvPyxi_ybu6wIh1VhumkA6ljy1D7lOL6AJo1F3lT172ihkhhake2KikI0BmLwu3-EGtj-yH7aqMHCb-nh7JCyiQUt9dGoU3U1jUC54NHtSdOdhwuJALdBfHCKjUDxaSK6LJHPYAyMK0TCQYMuYrixsfqwq2t-eA/s320/20230912_161425.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Oh, and if you’re planning a SailRail trip via the UK Mark Smith of <a href="Seat61.com ">Seat61.com </a>is the guru for travel advice. Thanks as always @seatsixtyone. Also, this week in Strasbourg we adopted a new law known as the ReFuelEU <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/package-fit-for-55/file-refueleu-aviation">Regulation </a>which will mandate the use of 'Sustainable Aviation Fuels' for aircraft in the years to come. The requirement starts at 2% in 2025, rises to 5% in 2030, and wit will take many years until the figure reaches 50%. In the meantime aviation numbers continue to rise. So, for the moment the greenest option is to avoid flying, or fly less, if you can. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Do I fly? Sure I do, and my job would be a real challenge if I didn’t. But when and where I can I try and take trains and ferries, and around half of the 200,000 km. I’ve travelled over the last four years as an MEP were ‘low-carbon’.</div><div><br /></div></span></div><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-7795de56-7fff-fc46-39c0-997688930018"><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span></div>Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-30310599517452003492023-06-11T15:50:00.008+01:002023-06-12T16:56:22.203+01:00Responding to Racism<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-76e40396-7fff-363f-3c05-d00ab1258056" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 9pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUGFgQK4c6l7eKWluOiS8FFJzIQ-kRRYAO4TOt2VNccRtMTfCcINm5KCTXPK05rl7CS_h-OHfMcpjnfZDamW-DZmY5MOR3anONlz8MxZ8xKQvCD6I-sKubHhRq1R-cnMy1RnZ01S2p6jRkehxQQoidytKNNB6w_VdDwrcMl1C7xl4BevtnxJQ/s4032/20230425_085159.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUGFgQK4c6l7eKWluOiS8FFJzIQ-kRRYAO4TOt2VNccRtMTfCcINm5KCTXPK05rl7CS_h-OHfMcpjnfZDamW-DZmY5MOR3anONlz8MxZ8xKQvCD6I-sKubHhRq1R-cnMy1RnZ01S2p6jRkehxQQoidytKNNB6w_VdDwrcMl1C7xl4BevtnxJQ/s320/20230425_085159.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: small;">The attack and intimidation of a group of homeless international protection applicants on Dublin's Upper Sandwith Street last a month ago was a shameful event, and has been rightfully condemned by the government and Irish authorities at large. <br /><br />This attack, and the protests that accompanied it, are the dangerous results of an effort to conflate structural challenges facing Irish society, such as the long-standing housing crisis, to argue against immigration. The Irish Freedom Party’s Hermann Kelly and others have used the well-worn trope of “unvetted men of military age” to cloak an anti-immigrant narrative, for example. Last month, we saw how discriminatory and racist narratives against vulnerable groups can incite violence. It is incumbent on public representatives to counteract these myths spread by those fuelling racism in our communities, as well as take action against the underlying causes. <br /><br />There was nothing inevitable about this event, which should further focus minds on the actions that are needed to better protect migrants living in Ireland, and address the underlying causes behind the rise of the far-right in this country. As war continues to rage in Eastern Europe, we can expect immigration to Ireland to rise. Over one year since Russia’s invasion against Ukraine, we have become less knowledgeable about the daily course of events in the war-torn country. However, news of the Russian missile attack on a hospital in Adviivka, Ukraine, or the breaching of the Kakhovka dam remind us that war is ongoing in Europe. <br /><br />As long as violence continues in Ukraine, people will continue to flee. They will seek safety to a large extent in neighbouring countries, hoping they may one day be able to return home. From these places of refuge, they will suffer trauma from their country’s invasion for many years to come. It is incumbent on countries that host people fleeing such violence to show them compassion throughout their journey by providing them with help and support to address their basic needs. <br /><br />Ireland, through its representatives in the Irish government and within the host communities across this island, has provided those fleeing the Ukraine war with such compassion and support. The State effort to accommodate refugees is generously supplemented by tens of thousands of Irish families, who have opened their doors to many Ukrainian families. This act of care and compassion is one of the best ways that a militarily neutral country like Ireland can support the people of Ukraine. The Irish contribution extends further, however, and we remain intent on providing medical and mine-clearing training to Ukraine. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: small;"><br />We cannot forget, however, that war in Ukraine is not the only violent conflict or circumstance happening from which people are fleeing today. The central Mediterranean route remains the ‘deadliest migration route in the world’, according to the UN. As President Michael D. Higgins recently warned, it is important that Ireland welcomes people fleeing persecution ‘without distinction’. In doing so, we avoid creating a two-tiered system of international protection that privileges some applicants over others.<br /><br />From the beginning of the Ukraine war, a coordinated response across multiple government departments kicked into gear with almost immediate effect. In a short space of time, departments and officials rolled out a large-scale, national response to an unfolding crisis with many unknowns. Many people within these departments who traditionally responded cautiously and carefully to certain events, seriously upped their game to cope with the pressures placed on them at short notice. As a large-scale operation organised under severe time pressure, bumps in the road can be expected. Over the last year, the government response has faced challenges and certain measures should be implemented immediately: greater coordination is required between different sections of Government to ensure services are not overly stretched, and communication with host communities should be improved. <br /><br />Ireland also faces long-standing structural problems that are categorically not caused by the arrival of people who have fled conflict and violence abroad. This is a fact rightly pointed out by a variety of commentators in Ireland in response to the recent growth in activities of the far-right in Ireland. Even before the war in Ukraine, housing, health, and education systems struggled to cope with the demands placed on them. Our response must be not only to help those in need, but also to accelerate the roll-out of housing, and reinforce our education and healthcare systems for all who need support.<br /><br />When it comes to matters of asylum policy, however, Ireland’s immigration system and the EU’s Common European Asylum System are simply not fit for purpose. They cannot adequately provide those seeking protection with a fair and dignified application process in their current state. In Ireland, long-standing proposals to update Irish immigration legislation must be delivered. We must reform our nationality and citizenship laws so that people who come to Ireland are not left in limbo for many years. The Direct Provision system must be abolished. <br /><br />Meanwhile, the EU has been in ‘crisis mode’ since 2015 in response to increased numbers of people arriving in Europe. Eight years later, this crisis is best described as a crisis created by the EU’s response (or lack thereof) to this development. The ongoing failure to reach consensus or generate a broad sense of solidarity between European countries continues to hamper the progress of real, working solutions in this policy area. The horrifying outcomes of this failure, as they have unfolded in Libya and the Mediterranean, are captured incisively by Irish Times journalist Sally Hayden in her reporting. <br /><br />We know what needs to be done: The Dublin Regulation, the EU law that determines which Member State is responsible for the examination of an application for asylum, must be reformed. Only with this reform, can we help ensure Mediterranean countries such as Greece and Italy are not put under unfair pressure to accept disproportionate numbers of migrants. At a wider level, we need better travel procedures so that passports cannot disappear between embarkation and arrival. The EU’s border management agency Frontex must be reformed and held accountable for their actions, and any future actions or policies must proceed in alignment with the EU fundamental rights charter. These are among the priorities of my political group, the Greens/EFA, during ongoing negotiations to reform the Common European Asylum System.<br /><br />The progress of negotiations on these points has been disappointing, however. The voices who promote a ‘Fortress Europe’ approach have gained considerable weight in European negotiations, as efforts to promote solidarity and consensus on this issue have been unsuccessful. We will continue to push back against this approach, nonetheless. Now is not a time to cosy up to right-wing populists like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. We know that bridges are needed more than walls, and I believe that Ireland can and should show leadership on this issue. <br /><br />In Dublin’s North Inner City where I live, forty percent of the population were born abroad. Their contribution to the city’s economic, social, and cultural heritage is immense. To safeguard these contributions and to protect the well-being of the current and future residents of our city who join us from abroad, we must provide fairer and more dignified procedures. We must make the necessary investments to the benefit of all. Ireland must provide leadership. </span></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: small;"><br />In February, I listened to Volodymyr Zelenskyy address the European parliament. He stressed that Europe is steeped in rules, values, equality and fairness. The President of Ukraine made it clear in his speech that the Russian regime hates equality, and threatens our European values and way of life. Our best response is to live up to the values we espouse, and hold ourselves to the standards that we project to the world. </span></div><p><br /></p>Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-78425109642178943402022-11-04T22:43:00.009+00:002022-11-05T18:10:13.990+00:00European transport: a whistletop tour<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> <br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVi20kcsM2SuB6fzBb95mOSPOUEZvRUmvwTjyH7-oEbaCg-O5x4_GvVH1HF_8Qi9c9STr6UmMLCS1bzQ0wDs-lvf2aFugu2V1uYSPXysQsWbncgS34aNPRWR3kNnF3JDhEj5ZKJmKyJZNOxTmgz9uCi0P-I0VGUUzPmYxyR8bCVNjKq_x4m8M/s2016/c1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="2016" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVi20kcsM2SuB6fzBb95mOSPOUEZvRUmvwTjyH7-oEbaCg-O5x4_GvVH1HF_8Qi9c9STr6UmMLCS1bzQ0wDs-lvf2aFugu2V1uYSPXysQsWbncgS34aNPRWR3kNnF3JDhEj5ZKJmKyJZNOxTmgz9uCi0P-I0VGUUzPmYxyR8bCVNjKq_x4m8M/w640-h288/c1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">“<i>What did the Romans do for us</i>?” echoes in my head every time I tackle challenges on the Transportation Committee of the European Parliament. “<i>What does Europe do for us</i>?” might be the updated version of that old Monty Python line. Over the last three days I have been on a study visit undertaken by the European Parliament’s Transportation Committee looking at transport projects in Germany, Austria, and Italy. In a sense the trip looked at what the EU is doing for us, two thousand years on from the Romans' achievements. The EU's budget provides €25.6 billion for grants from the EU’s 2021-2027 budget to co-fund Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) projects in the EU Member States, and this was an opportunity to see how this money is being spent. As the Greens / European Free Alliance group's MEP who acts as coordinator on the European Parliamenets Transport Committee it was good to get out of the office and see projects like this at close hand.<br /><br />Wednesday kicked off with a visit to Deutsche Bahn’s massive rail freight yard in Munich. At EU level we constantly talk about the European Green Deal, and a future that is smart, green, and digital. This was a practical example. The German state-owned rail company is working to automate the coupling and decoupling of rail freight wagons. If successful, this could transform dirty time-consuming work and make it easier and faster to send goods by rail. I was impressed with the work of Dr. Evelyn Nikutta, CEO of <a href="https://www.deutschebahn.com/en/group/business_units/dbcargo-6929392">Deutsche Bahn cargo </a>who gave us a masterclass on the challenges she faces, and then brought us into the freight yard and showed each of the MEPs present how to put join up and then dissemble freight wagons. For me, the take-away from all of this is that automation and digitalisation is hugely challenging, but if successful, can be transformative in achieving a modal shift to rail for long-distance cargo. In Ireland it is hard to make rail freight successful as the journey lenghts are short, but I intend discussing what Germany is doing with my colleagues back home who cover transport issues. There's certainly scope for Iarnród Éireann to transport more freight by rail, and in doing so help meet our climate goals<br /></span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWtTuFT07xJKuTuMyUSgm-XLLvX9zui6AtSLuDFLsGrCyva1i6nIGR3HefZRr1kdrC-rmBZBaSTkZSfmJ3JrBg9SGkwdrTHqP8YeOO7iwKsJuLGHJeAx7vmIgpLrg8HW7JVbAyRq8b4CltquX0nmoU0fjNUdJgSaGr5cEiMRIkqmJ8FgZ0SKc/s4608/20221102_154207.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="4608" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWtTuFT07xJKuTuMyUSgm-XLLvX9zui6AtSLuDFLsGrCyva1i6nIGR3HefZRr1kdrC-rmBZBaSTkZSfmJ3JrBg9SGkwdrTHqP8YeOO7iwKsJuLGHJeAx7vmIgpLrg8HW7JVbAyRq8b4CltquX0nmoU0fjNUdJgSaGr5cEiMRIkqmJ8FgZ0SKc/w640-h480/20221102_154207.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />That evening we travelled by coach to Innsbruck, Austria and had a working dinner with the incoming Governor of Tyrol, Anton Mattle and we discussed making the Single European Rail Area a reality. Josef Dopplebauer of the EU Agency for Railways highlighted the regulatory minefield that needs tackling: different voltages, regulations in each Member State for braking systems, Italian requirements for a second person in the locomotive cab and on it goes. Quite a challenge, and hopefully new EU regulations can tackle this, but worryingly the European Commission has not been vocal on this issue since the Fourth Railway Package of legislation was legislated for the best part of a decade ago. <br /><br />On Wednesday I kicked off the day meeting former Austrian Green MEP Eva Lichtenberger. She explained the challenge of traffic in these steep Alpine valleys, where noise from traffic is a big issue for many, and pollution can be trapped with temperature inversions during the winter months. The new tunnel will help, but with traffic set to increase with economic growth in the coming years the gains from greater rail traffic will be offset by the overall growth. It was clear to me that we must decouple economic growth from environmental damage.<br /><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJPFumCkwiY92Fz39rfLECwFJjfvxQ4uBIxYuf8rG0WLhbbWpzQTdd7zgbdOEmPpuW_kIJ5g7CZwk5UPJP9dibUfyfxQpzFFC9iqAjGYMYFj5hUXxfvB_bVXrD7JOkRZSy6MRROXdgBd9JdLmcibKqC1JT0SXrwvOblgxO1OfX5byZmsvFNvg/s3214/20221103_170655.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2410" data-original-width="3214" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJPFumCkwiY92Fz39rfLECwFJjfvxQ4uBIxYuf8rG0WLhbbWpzQTdd7zgbdOEmPpuW_kIJ5g7CZwk5UPJP9dibUfyfxQpzFFC9iqAjGYMYFj5hUXxfvB_bVXrD7JOkRZSy6MRROXdgBd9JdLmcibKqC1JT0SXrwvOblgxO1OfX5byZmsvFNvg/w640-h480/20221103_170655.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Then it was off to the <a href="https://www.bbt-se.com/en/">Brenner Base Tunnel</a>, under the Alps that will revolutionise rail travel on the ScanMed corridor between Scandinavia and the Mediterranean. Pat Cox, former President of the European Parliament is the EU’s coordinator for this massive Trans-European Network Transport (TEN-T) Corridor which stretches from the Baltic Sea to the tip of Italy. In reality, even this section of the route is a series of separate projects that link up to achieve a transformation in connectivity, and I couldn’t help but think that even greater co-ordination is required, as the opening date for this particular section of the route was kicked back from 2028 to 2032, and parts of the rail network won’t be completed until 2040. It was humbling to hear from engineers who started off working on the project just after they finished college, and who will retire before the corridor is completed. After the discussions and a safety briefing, we travelled several kilometres by bus inside the mountain and walked through some of the enormous caverns that have been excavated. The main tunnel will be fift kilometres long, one of the biggest engineering projects underway in the world. I learnt that tunnels like this are hot, wet, loud, and dirty. Water dripped down from the cement sprayed on the ceiling, and this far underground the ground temperature can be in the mid-thirties. There’s enormous potential to use this geo-thermal energy, and in a nearby project it has been used to heat the waters of a fish farm that cultivates sturgeon. <br /><br />Years ago, the engineer managing the Dublin Port Tunnel told me that for him the project was a communications exercise, more so than an engineering project. Here in the Alps the same issue came up, but more importantly the importance of getting the contracts right seems to be a crucial factor in fast-tracking the project. The project was due to come in at €8.8 Billion, but this seems set to rise, as the main power source for tunnelling is electricity, and energy costs have gone through the roof in recent months. Fun fact: trains in Italy drive on the right, and in Austria and Germany on the left, so the two rail tunnels cross each other half-way through the mountain. It was dark by the time we emerged from the tunnel, and we drove down the south side of the alps to Bolzano in the Italian province of Trentino Alto Adige.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOoSFUJ0nx9dYc2iR1tTuZ4FBSnMQ2EHhaBnGd6ZUciolsp61ylBcpvNvkUrDJqoeMmMfHPJvBLHlHcDBojoGeGHgkyDQFE8cQc_Y2_iDlF0b65YVwskwNmgWXsS9YYRHCxBsvQNf7sf18YT951zmw8UQOlEEkL_pcNsJOVPPWCpl7u0x5wGs/s2928/20221104_102049.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2196" data-original-width="2928" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOoSFUJ0nx9dYc2iR1tTuZ4FBSnMQ2EHhaBnGd6ZUciolsp61ylBcpvNvkUrDJqoeMmMfHPJvBLHlHcDBojoGeGHgkyDQFE8cQc_Y2_iDlF0b65YVwskwNmgWXsS9YYRHCxBsvQNf7sf18YT951zmw8UQOlEEkL_pcNsJOVPPWCpl7u0x5wGs/w640-h480/20221104_102049.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />On Friday morning, it was lashing rain, and we headed on our bus to an Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Bolzano. There we visited <a href="https://www.alpitronic.it/en/home/">Alpitronic</a>, a company that makes fast chargers for electric vehicles. Philipp Senoner one of the four founders of the company explained their meteoric growth from thirty-eight employees five years ago to two hundred today, in the process becoming a market leader in France, Germany, Italy and Austria for installing EV chargers. Their hypercharger can deliver 300 kW, and fully charge a vehicle in 15 minutes. Recently US President Joe Biden announced a $7.5 billion boost for “Made in America” chargers under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, but investment in the EU, and even in Germany will surpass this. Philipp made a plea to us as EU legislators to achieve harmonisation on the calibration methodology and regulation at EU level, a request that I will send on to the mandarins in DG Move, the European Commission’s Transport department. Interestingly he started off his studies in Munich, and their initial products were ground supply power units for aircraft, but now EV charging is the future. One aspect of trips like these is the opportunity to spend time with colleagues from across the political divide. I may disagree with my EPP and ID colleagues when I stress the urgency of green issues, but spending time in each other’s company allows discussions to take place that would not happen in Brussels.<br /><br />Before I travelled back home by taxis, trains, and a Ryanair flight from Bergamo to Dublin I paid a quick visit to the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology. There the mummified remains of <a href="https://www.iceman.it/en/the-iceman/">Ötzi </a>the iceman are exhibited in an refrigerated exhibition case. He died on an Alpine pass 5,300 years ago, and his frozen body was exposed by a melting glacier in 1991. I did not have time to take in the entire display, but the wealth of information that we have learnt about his life at a time before Newgrange and the Pyramids were built is an extraordinary story that will bring me back to this part of Italy at some stage.</span><p></p><p><i><span style="font-family: verdana;">04 November 2022</span></i><br /></p><p></p>Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-6159757293722021102022-10-20T18:03:00.004+01:002022-11-16T09:29:15.236+00:00Decarbonising Buildings: the road ahead<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><br /></p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span><p></p><p><i><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnd8bwCuacG4KqAIkY_pQrIdpUQwlSj-5LVFY6i6WK9WhmCgKJ9qPplIR9Fh24EgA_7iIy4_ZP5gbXZLmicXnFfVPbUnJCIavb-qgTrR8YPHwYEJnSRaTjiE7MlijMZZOnbxpM2NJ9xiP8uS0jokprVaNv3AbrXZTwhKfQTt47P1G-AvCWmN0/s1488/Ciaran.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="1488" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnd8bwCuacG4KqAIkY_pQrIdpUQwlSj-5LVFY6i6WK9WhmCgKJ9qPplIR9Fh24EgA_7iIy4_ZP5gbXZLmicXnFfVPbUnJCIavb-qgTrR8YPHwYEJnSRaTjiE7MlijMZZOnbxpM2NJ9xiP8uS0jokprVaNv3AbrXZTwhKfQTt47P1G-AvCWmN0/w640-h426/Ciaran.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></i></div><i><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />On Friday 7th October 2022 I spoke at the Irish Building and Design Awards at the Intercontinental Hotel in Ballsbridge, Dublin. Thanks to Louis Gunnigan, my former colleague from TU Dublin for the invitation! I explained what the European Union is doing about tackling climate change, and I spoke specifically about the challenges that we face in the building sector. Here’s what I said:</span></i><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />I want to talk to you about a revolution. Do not panic, it is a gentle revolution, and you are already part of it. In fact, we are living through it. Called the European Green Deal, it is the ‘big idea' behind the European Union’s actions over recent years. Initiated by European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, it underpins the work of the European Commission, the European Council, and the European Parliament. Some see it as a growth strategy, some see it as a means for a Just Transition, and others see it as a mechanism that can deliver the climate action that science demands over the coming years. It changes the way we produce and use energy; the way we travel, the food we grow and eat, and lastly, and importantly the buildings that we construct and renovate.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Agriculture, Energy, Transport, Construction: all these sectors are adapting to meet the demands of our changing climate. Of course, we cannot just clap our hands and say, ‘Make it so!” We need new laws, and revisions of the existing ones to decarbonise Europe, and currently there are about twenty draft laws on the table. The Energy Efficiency Directive, the Renewable Energy Directive, and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive are all being updated to meet our new ambition. They are part of the so-called ‘Fit for 55’ package, aiming to reduce emissions by 55% between 1990 and 2030, no easy task.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Since the European Green Deal launched, we have seen Putin’s murderous invasion of Ukraine, and our energy supplies from Russia are reducing. However, we want to be completely independent from Russian fossil fuels before 2030, and that is the overarching aim of the EU’s ‘<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/repowereu-affordable-secure-and-sustainable-energy-europe_en"><i>RePowerEU plan</i></a>’. A central element is installing a massive number of solar panels and heat pumps in the coming years.<br />I am the rapporteur or chief negotiator on the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, and it will play a central role in reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, rolling out renewable technologies to homes across Europe, and achieving our climate goals. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Research tells us that the buildings that house the 450 million people living in the EU consume 40% of the energy and are responsible for 36% of the greenhouse gas emissions. This impact is enormous, and that is why we need to decarbonise our new buildings, and the existing building stock to reach near zero emissions by 2050. 80%/90% of the buildings we use today will still be with us in 2050, so renovating the existing stock will be crucial. Retrofitting existing buildings to an A rating is quite the challenge over the next 25/30 years. The most sustainable building is the one that already exists. And there will be opt-outs for Protected Structures. We have no intention to put a rooflight over the Pantheon or apply external insulation.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />With the <u>Energy Performance of Buildings Directive</u>, I am pushing for very ambitious targets. However, I must collaborate with colleagues from different political groups, and I suspect my ambition will be tempered by their cautiousness. The final draft of this legislation should be approved by the middle of next year. For now, allow me to give you an overview of what we want to achieve from the outset.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />First, we want to have <b>one-stop shops </b>in every country that can provide free impartial advice for energy upgrades to households and businesses, and we want to prioritise a neighbourhood approach so that communities can work together to reduce their bills and achieve savings with economies of scale.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Second, we have <b>ambitious plans on electrification</b>. We want to phase out the installation of heating units that use gas or oil, and electrify everything our heating needs, and yes, we need to reinforce the grid to make this happen. We want EV charging installations in all new buildings from 2025.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Third, a key element in the new law will be <b>Minimum Energy Performance Standards </b>for new buildings and upgrades, so that we are firmly on a glide-path to an A-rating for most buildings in the coming years. Of course, these are in place in Ireland for new builds, but many other countries do not have these. Of course, social safeguards will be required to protect tenants who may be at risk of renoviction.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Fourth, we have pushed for all new buildings to be <b>Zero Emission Buildings </b>by 2025 for residential, < 60 kW/m2 pa, but using renewable sources either generated on site; from renewable energy communities; or from district heating systems. We want existing buildings to achieve a C rating by 2030, though this target may be pushed back in the political discussions that we are having. The key moment to undertake works is at the trigger point when a building is sold or leased. We of course differentiate between existing and new buildings, public and private, housing, and other uses and have different targets accordingly. We know there are bottlenecks and shortages in terms of skills, and materials, but these will reduce over time. We also know it will create jobs, perhaps half a million by the end of the decade and these are professional, skilled, and unskilled jobs that will support local and regional economies across the EU.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Finally, <b>we need the money</b>. The cost of these works will run to trillions of euro. But from the conversations I am having with financial institutions they are saying they want to lend and will do so once the legislation is enacted. And the rates of return will increase as we rely less on expensive fossil fuels, and the returns will be predictable. Even the European Investment Bank is rebranding itself as the Climate Bank, and it is already lending to local authorities here in Dublin to fund deep renovations. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Friends, colleagues, the aim of the EPBD is to decarbonise all buildings in the EU by 2050, and this is no mean feat. We will need ambition, money, skills, and supplies to get us there. As members of this industry - whether you are a construction worker, an architect, a supplier of renewable technologies, or a building owner - we all have a role to play in this gentle revolution. I know many of you are already meeting or exceeding these targets in your work, and that is fantastic to see. It is great to have you with us on this, and I wish you the very best with the work that lies ahead.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>Uploaded 20 October 2022</i><br /> <br /><br /><br /></span></p>Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-51797130973192844962022-05-30T11:29:00.009+01:002022-05-30T11:33:48.019+01:00Forty years a growing<p><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMSFyp0OGFwEZ7T8RbGGegvUY3JSnovPBR-f0JCyqDdbFNgzHYx2NGgZxRL6iwG5VIr9qvpxUOBJHrNODeY2FfLgHMGTNnLxiZ2gkpEisw9YJHxvoFt3b7RWKk3smGPn1KTNxQ9BbJYv6oXry5BsVx_jBWL3jSPIPD1mQojcxV6UlBK671jsQ/s1024/WhatsApp%20Image%202022-05-30%20at%209.45.01%20AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMSFyp0OGFwEZ7T8RbGGegvUY3JSnovPBR-f0JCyqDdbFNgzHYx2NGgZxRL6iwG5VIr9qvpxUOBJHrNODeY2FfLgHMGTNnLxiZ2gkpEisw9YJHxvoFt3b7RWKk3smGPn1KTNxQ9BbJYv6oXry5BsVx_jBWL3jSPIPD1mQojcxV6UlBK671jsQ/w400-h266/WhatsApp%20Image%202022-05-30%20at%209.45.01%20AM.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Let's take a moment to look back. <p></p><p> In 1982 I was a teenager, and I read a column by Michael Viney in the Irish Times where he talked about:<br /><i>“A storehouse economy, non-exploitative approach to nature, land reform, human-scale institutions, alternative technology, a basic, unearned income for all, and the decentralisation of political power.” </i> <br /><br />That column led to me joining the Green Party, and attending the first Convention in the Glencree Reconciliation Centre where we agreed our founding principles forty years ago. . My memories of the early days included Esperanto, Basic Income, Acid Rain, our cold damp office on Stephen Street, and then Fownes Street. I remember canvassing for Liam de Siún in Bray in the early 1980s. Back then people left their front door key in the lock on the outside of the front door. Times have changed! I remember Ubi Dwyer storming out of our first convention in Glencree because some of us had driven there; Maire Mullarney on the Late Late Show, extolling home schooling; Roger Garland keeping Ireland open, and having rows with rural Fianna Fáil TDs; Patricia McKenna annoying the establishment; John Gormley criticising Bertie Ahern on his use of the Government Jet. We still have rows, with others and within!<br /><br />On reflection I feel we spent too much time railing about what we were against, rather than promoting what we were in favour of. People need a vision to believe in, as well as problems to oppose. So let’s look ahead:<br /><br />We need to be more propositional, rather than oppositional. We need to get out of our comfort zone, rather than cherish the comfort of like-minded people. We need to check our privilege, and remember that Ireland is one of the wealthiest nations<br /><br />There’s a few awkward truths we also need to confront. Covid vaccinations rely on the extraordinary advances of modern medicine. Nuclear energy is keeping the lights on in France and other countries. Ukrainians want weapons to fight an evil invasion<br /><br />I don’t want to suggest that we need to drop our commitments to preventative healthcare, to clean energy, or to peace, but we must accept that what we hold dear is not necessarily held dear by others and we must respect that. Looking ahead: We need to be a stronger voice for women, for children, for minorities, for marginalised communities and for those less privileged than ourselves. We must be known for our leadership and vision, rather than our dissent.<br /><br />We should look to our German, our Austrian, Finnish and Swedish colleagues. We should listen to the concerns of young people advocating change. We need to seek out, listen to, and learn from dissenting voices. <br /><br />We must work across political divides. It is what I learnt from the Council chamber, but it took me 20 years to learn how to do so. That’s what I now do every day in the European parliament in order to achieve success. <br /><br />To succeed in the next 40 years we need a better gender balance. We need to be more inclusive of all communities, and I applaud the work of Roderic O’Gorman and Joe O’Brien on this. We need more coherent economic and social narratives. Sure, we favour basic income, but then what? We need to have more to say about big data (thanks Ossian), and small businesses, about start-ups and innovation. We need to have more to say about cities, and about towns, and Malcolm Noonan and others are making this happen<br /><br />To suggest 40 years ago that there were natural limits that we had to live within was radical. It is now generally accepted. What we then called alternative energy is now mainstream. The European Green Deal has been endorsed by the vast majority of European public representatives, and this is what Grace O’Sullivan and I are legislating for in Brussels. <br /><br />In 1990 John Gormley published a Green Guide for Ireland. He asked whether being green would involve a return to a harsh and spartan existence. In reply he wrote that “We are at a stage of human development where we can combine the technology of the new with the wisdom of the old to make for a better world.” John’s words were prescient then and are relevant now. <br /><br />Over the next forty years we must change. We require a relationship to the land that replenishes and rejuvenates the soil. We must produce, store and utilise clean energy for everything that we do. We must retrofit our homes to be powerhouses that keep us safe and secure. Our neighbourhoods must be safe and easy to get around for the young and not so young. We must reclaim our streets from the tyranny of car dominance and allow public space, and life to flourish. We must cherish biodiversity, and work with all on protecting our climate. Back then we said that the poverty of two-thirds of the world’s family demands a redistribution of the world’s resources. This is still the case.<br /><br />Friends, today’s challenges demand cooperation across borders. There are enormous challenges ahead. We know that the challenges of globalisation, of migration, of climate, of Covid, of peace demand cooperation and coordination across the globe. They cannot be solved by the nation-state alone. The green message is a clear one. To take care of this fragile and precious earth we must work as one. <br /><br /><br /></p>Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-4647238646153716312022-03-10T11:40:00.005+00:002022-03-13T12:41:18.795+00:00Greenways and nature-based solutions<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGGCCz82NmbyQPJ9tmHukgOqYTR-Gbs_L1zGaU06rBydg4HSAen1UvZehOHCEsAoCqB2-Rgq2DSAdWby3yCJCIhvVIEN1czHxsPx11qtPidzI_Fb_Ck0RzL6r0RhulczXBDko4Zi_kJagCUqgKggtmLNvgPTQvy9w8v_9d_VfmkitrPlgVHrY=s3744" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2593" data-original-width="3744" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGGCCz82NmbyQPJ9tmHukgOqYTR-Gbs_L1zGaU06rBydg4HSAen1UvZehOHCEsAoCqB2-Rgq2DSAdWby3yCJCIhvVIEN1czHxsPx11qtPidzI_Fb_Ck0RzL6r0RhulczXBDko4Zi_kJagCUqgKggtmLNvgPTQvy9w8v_9d_VfmkitrPlgVHrY=w400-h278" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Waterford Dungarvan Greenway<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><i><br />In March 2022 I was invited by Roy O'Connor of the Roads and Transport section of Engineers Ireland to open their seminar on Greenways. I made the point that Greenways are not simply a recreational phenomenon, but can be at the heart of our efforts to decarbonise by encouraging walking and cycling. My opening address can be found below.</i><br /></p><p>Thanks to Roy O'Connor, and Engineers Ireland for inviting me to open this seminar.</p><p></p><p>Good morning and greetings from Strasbourg in France where I am attending the plenary session of the European Parliament. It is a dark moment in Europe, and we hope that de-escalation will occur.
It is a week in which the energy rulebook for Europe is being re-written, in order to reduce reliance on Russian energy. That means less coal, oil and gas, and hopefully an acceleration of the green energy transition. This has significant implications from transport, and may assist in decarbonisation. </p><p>From a transport and mobility perspective, that means more support for active travel, public transport, and electrification.
Active travel covers walking and cycling and now is the right time to boost these sustainable modes. The 2018 <a href="https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/ed5d17-strategy-for-the-future-development-of-national-and-regional-greenwa/">Strategy </a>for the Future Development of National and Regional Greenways states, “<i>Greenways are not simply a means of getting from A to B, they are an experience in and of themselves. They are also a means to experience the communities through which they transport us</i>.” I’d like to flip that around and stress that they ARE a means of getting from A to B, and with the rise of pedal-assisted bikes, they can be transformative in achieving a favourable modal spilt for short and medium length journeys. </p><p>However, let me backtrack for a moment. There was a lightbulb moment around twenty years ago when Fáilte Ireland realised that Ireland Inc was generating more revenue from cycle holidays than golf holidays, and this thankfully has led to a rise of investment in greenways. Nevertheless, we know that the reasons for greenway investment go far deeper than that.
Increased concern about local air quality, particularly post-Covid have reinforced the importance of clean air, and travel on foot, or by bike and Greenways help achieve this. Active travel also helps tackle our obesity crisis. 63% of Irish men and 48% of Irish women have a Body Mass Index higher than 25, and being active daily tackle this. Ireland is above average, in a bad way and greenways can address this. </p><p>The climate and biodiversity crises are further reasons for investment in greenways as they can, if designed correctly improve this at a local level.
Greenways can also assist in climate adaptation. Embedding sustainable drainage systems from the outset can help nature heal, and provide resilience. Last week I visited Valkenburg in the Netherlands as part of a European Parliament delegation examining the aftermath of the deadly floods last summer that took hundreds of lives in Germany and Belgium. Tellingly, no lives were lost in the Netherlands and the mayor Valkenburg Mr. Daan Prevoo painstakingly explained the Dutch approach of giving ‘<a href="https://www.dutchwatersector.com/news/room-for-the-river-programme">Room for the River</a>’, a phrase I had previously heard from Henk Ovink, the Dutch water <a href="https://www.government.nl/topics/water-management/waterenvoy">ambassador</a>. You know all about these challenges, and I would like to think that we are moving away from concrete to more reliance on nature-based solutions, though I certainly see this argument raging within the Office of Public Works and other agencies. You know, I think we all need to go back to school every once in a while, and learn about new approaches to how we carry out our work. I know this leads to practical challenges: how for instance can we incorporate permeable surfaces that are strong enough to withstand extreme rainfall events that are becoming more common. We must work with nature, not fight against it. </p><p> The Irish Government has pledged a million Euro a day to walking and cycling. However, we cannot just throw money at projects, we need do it right. Continued Professional Development is crucial. While temporary Covid-related mobility measures have been positive, they have often come with a lot of plastic baggage attached! I hope that we can rely more on wood, green concrete, and trees and planting in the future. I live close to the Phoenix Park, and while I welcome the smooth resurfacing and plastic wands that now firmly delineate the cycle path, perhaps we could consider a row of cherry trees next time out. Nature can help with sustainable solutions. Transport and mobility has come full circle since I first campaigned about urban motorways in Dublin over thirty years ago. Back then, the mantra was that the car is king. We now know it was a pretender to the throne. The transport pyramid now puts teleworking on the top of the ladder, and the pedestrian, wheelchair user and cyclist on the rungs below, and that is the way it should be. Delivery vehicles, public transport and shared mobility come next, with dirty diesels barely making it onto the ladder, and being phased out as electrification takes hold.</p><p> I am glad that land acquisition will figure in your discussions. That nettle must be grasped. So many Dutch towns have the cycle path safely planned at a short distance away from the main road, and that requires the purchase of land, a small price to pay for sustainable infrastructure. Greenways can transform our tourism offer, and our transport infrastructure at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the carbon footprint of our motorway network. Let us ensure that local transport needs are central to the planning of greenways, not just for recreational use, but also for serving local everyday journeys. I hope the investment in active travel will also lead to a re-thinking of rural roads, where too often road markings consists of a dashed white central divider. In Denmark, on such roads the central divider is not present, but instead solid white lines on both sides delineate a metre of shared space that is available to cyclists and pedestrians. The psychological impact of this also helps reduce vehicle speeds. </p><p>Before I conclude, may I make a final plea on the subject of way finding, or signage. It is clear that many who choose to drive are not aware that walking and cycling infrastructure exists. We need to improve the quality and quantum of signage that indicates active travel infrastructure. The <a href="https://irishheart.ie/your-health/our-health-programmes/healthy-communities/slainte/walking-routes/">Slí na Sláinte</a> signs do this, but we need a similar system for all active travel routes. Such signs could list destinations, but also travel times. Over the years, we have reduced road signage to a listing of letters and numbers that are unintelligible to the layperson. The N17, as far as I know the only one of these that has acquired any cultural recognition. Let us get back to using authentic and grounded place-names that have been neglected, but that have a rich cultural grounding. I of course have to remind you, that in doing this we do not wish to create excessive signage and that we also need to declutter our streets and roads.</p><p>Thank you, enjoy the day! <br /></p>Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-43372292105852067262022-03-04T10:31:00.009+00:002022-03-12T09:39:28.124+00:00A Green response to Russian Aggression in Ukraine<p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-bf942af1-7fff-83a8-3598-eca621d81106" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #474747; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-bf942af1-7fff-83a8-3598-eca621d81106" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #474747; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #474747; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdodsSFsCpd6jMyn8PCkwWYe5UId3gJrxr-HuDAbcNHSAaiJ1pWpUY-9S5qTmJVOAIi5ebbqHTqFGe2F7XHbPIu4JW8bdiZRl4fdbATMEYQsXwj98R8kbwEXuon3vFigcH_vPZcXeV_h1kZc2ytxWQqTWJsaapcms_z52KQLD1xtoXdHtLgjc=s2224" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1668" data-original-width="2224" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdodsSFsCpd6jMyn8PCkwWYe5UId3gJrxr-HuDAbcNHSAaiJ1pWpUY-9S5qTmJVOAIi5ebbqHTqFGe2F7XHbPIu4JW8bdiZRl4fdbATMEYQsXwj98R8kbwEXuon3vFigcH_vPZcXeV_h1kZc2ytxWQqTWJsaapcms_z52KQLD1xtoXdHtLgjc=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green Party Ukraine Crisis Webinar March 2022<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #474747;"><i>On 3 March 2022 the Green Party organised a
discussion around the Ukraine Crisis at short notice. It was a webinar like no
other: listening to Ukrainian MP <u>Maria Ionova</u> speaking to us from </i></span><span><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kiev?src=hashtag_click"><i><span style="color: #474747;">Kiev</span></i></a><span style="color: #474747;"><i> with
sirens in the background. Minister </i><u style="font-style: italic;">Eamon Ryan</u><i> TD, gave us an introduction, and Professor </i><u style="font-style: italic;">Donnacha Ó Beacháin</u><i> from DCU outlined the
need for support from Ukraine and </i><u><i>Grace O’Sullivan</i></u><i> MEP and myself gave a
perspective from the European Parliament. </i><u style="font-style: italic;">Garret Kelly</u><i> our Foreign Affairs
Working Group chair joined us from Sarajevo and Senator </i></span><a href="https://twitter.com/VincentPMartin1"><span style="color: #474747;"><i>Vincent Martin</i></span></a><span style="color: #474747;"><i> </i><i>chaired the evening’s proceedings. Below are my speaking
notes. </i></span></span></span></span><p></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #474747;">Maria, I cannot
imagine what you are your family are living through in Kiev. </span><span></span></span></span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #474747;">I ask myself, what
can we do? How can we de-escalate? This is the key question this evening. As we
watch the violence on our screens, we feel powerless at this remove. Lenin stated, “<i>There are decades where nothing happens; and there
are weeks where decades happen</i>." Meanwhile European Commission President
von der Leyen said this week: "<i>This is a clash between the rule of law and
the rule of the gun; between democracies and autocracies; between a rules-based
order and a world of naked aggression</i>.”</span><span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #474747;">Putin’s murderous
actions must be condemned. However, we must avoid a direct confrontation
between NATO and Russian forces. It was important for the European Parliament
to be united yesterday in condemning the invasion, showing solidarity with the
Ukrainian people, and calling for the EU to act on issues like greater
humanitarian assistance and refugee protection. It is right that Ireland
will play its part in welcoming refugees, despite our housing and homelessness
challenges. I am pleased that in the European Parliament this week we voted for
€1.2 Billion of aid for Ukraine.</span><span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #474747;">Last week I was in
Albania, as a member of the Delegation to the EU-Albania Stabilisation and
Association Parliamentary Committee. They have waited for many years to be on
the list for EU accession. Today, Georgia and Moldova have applied for EU
membership. It is clear that there is now renewed pressure on the European Union to speed up the process for countries that wish to look towards Brussels. Also today, Ministers in the Justice and Home Affairs Council have
agreed, for the first time, to trigger the ‘Temporary Protection
Directive’ to support people fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #474747;">The Greens/EFA
Group are calling on EU Member States and the Commission to ensure that all
people fleeing the war can find sanctuary in the EU. I am glad that Ireland has
agreed to play its part in this. The European Union was founded as an economic
entity; the Steel and Coal Community, and it has become an environmental and
social body. I am worried if it were to morph into a military body, and I am
not convinced of this need. I ask myself where would it end? Of course,
innocent citizens must be able to defend themselves, and Ireland must provide
humanitarian aid. However, the EU must not become a military organisation. This
would take away from its key role.</span><span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #474747;">A year ago, I
<a href="http://bit.ly/CuffeDF">contributed </a>to the public consultation to the Commission on the Defence Forces.
I said then that our strengths as a neutral nation have served us well in our
peacekeeping role abroad, and in humanitarian tasks in the Mediterranean and
elsewhere. Ireland sits on the United Nations Security Council; it can
again assist in tackling global challenges. Our neutrality can be an asset.
In line with the Irish’s State’s constitutional commitment to neutrality, the
triple-lock must be respected in terms of any external deployment of the Irish
Defence Forces. </span><span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #474747;">This week’s
economic sanctions are strong and significant. Ukrainian resistance is high. A
year ago, I raised concerns over attempts that may have occurred involving the
hacking of such infrastructure such as undersea cables by foreign forces, and
the unannounced incursion of defence aircraft and submarines into Irish waters
and airspace. These concerns must inform our defence capabilities.</span><span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #474747;">Ukraine is a breadbasket.
It is also rich in coal, oil, and gas, and nuclear. I had not considered
concerns about nuclear installations in times of war, I had been more focused
on terrorist attack. Clearly, I’d be more worried about a <a href="https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/IAEA-chief-warns-over-pressure-on-Ukraine-nuclear">nuclear facility</a> being a battlefield than a windfarm. The EU’s dependence on Russian oil
and gas is now in plain sight. Filling our cars with petrol fuels Putin’s ambitions. </span><span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #474747;">Now is the time to
hit two birds with one stone: end reliance on Russian fossil fuels by promoting
a 100% renewable energy economy which helps us tackle the climate crisis. The
more we invest now in energy efficiency, energy storage, demand management, peak-shifting and
renewable energy, the quicker we’ll be able to stop funding Putin’s war by
buying less of his gas and oil. </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #474747;"><i><u>Update, 12 March 2022</u></i></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #474747;">Back in 1994 Putin made his intentions clear. Michael Stuermer, author of ‘Putin and the Rise of Russia’ was listening carefully. Referring to the 20 million Russians who lived beyond his country’s border Stuermer quotes Putin as saying “<i>For us, their fate is a question of war or peace</i>.” It seems clear that any solution to Russia's war in Ukraine will require assurances for ethnic Russians living there. He sees NATO expansion, and to a lesser extent the EU as a threat.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #474747;">Earlier this week I had a meeting with Commissioner Frans Timmermans in Strasbourg. He speaks Russian and also knew Putin going back to the 1990s. He had his fair share’s of run-ins with him, over the behaviour of Russian embassy staff in the Netherlands, and Russia’s treatment of Dutch diplomatic staff in Moscow. He even negotiated with him for the release of a Greenpeace ship that was detained in Russia. He is acutely aware of Russia’s power after 192 Dutch citizens died after a Russian missile downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Eastern Ukraine in 2014. Timmermans believes that sharp and severe economic sanctions will have an impact.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #474747;">However, I repeat,
the focus right now must be on de-escalation. Hopefully peace talks will achieve this.</span><span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #474747;">Thank you.</span><span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">
</span></span><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-c76564f0-7fff-7b44-0575-b6c6678a760a" style="background-color: transparent; color: #474747; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></span></p>Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-59786921418340908152021-11-21T11:56:00.012+00:002021-11-21T19:09:19.180+00:00Good COP, bad COP<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheTgwXwFhTnmbvfjpRcTVwma5hqQmkZxT_Tb_zTv2vK3V0jAiHf3X7RJuqIjpZnenrxxwMgOaFAV_GEsRE07hJadzm9ZDPEJ0mXAiQ3CNerAHRtViCvm-JMJbUJ1fV025kIe_y_g/s2048/20211112_190139.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheTgwXwFhTnmbvfjpRcTVwma5hqQmkZxT_Tb_zTv2vK3V0jAiHf3X7RJuqIjpZnenrxxwMgOaFAV_GEsRE07hJadzm9ZDPEJ0mXAiQ3CNerAHRtViCvm-JMJbUJ1fV025kIe_y_g/w400-h300/20211112_190139.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Globe hanging from the ceiling at COP26 in Glasgow</span></span></i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">It is three
weeks since I <a href="https://www.independent.ie/news/environment/from-brussels-to-glasgow-my-low-emissions-train-journey-to-cop26-with-greta-thunberg-and-like-minded-climate-activists-41008962.html">boarded</a> the ‘Rail to the CoP’ train in Brussels, and a week
since I came back from Glasgow via London and a Eurostar to Brussels. For me, the <a href="https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/ciaran-cuffe-cop26-glasgow-5587207-Oct2021/">optimism</a> that
I felt stepping off a train in Glasgow and seeing Greta Thunberg and her supporters has been replaced with that familiar feeling that progress is slow, and rarely
moves at the pace required. On that first weekend I watched Patti Smith sing
“<i>The people have the power</i>” from a Glasgow stage, but the reality is that Governments
and Institutions have the real power, and rarely change direction in a hurry,
even when it is badly needed. Former President Mary Robinson's emotional <a href="https://twitter.com/skynewsSam/status/1458425470584860678?s=20">plea</a> summed up how so many of us felt. </span>
</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">My last memories of COP26 were on Saturday
afternoon as I sat at the back of the huge Plenary Hall. A ‘stocktaking’ was about
to start. To my left I could see Frans Timmermans the European Commission
Vice-President working the room with some of his senior advisors close to hand.
He was listening to voices from all around the world from the smaller island states to powerful players like Russia. To his right was John Kerry, US
president Biden’s climate envoy. He too was touring the room, ignoring cameras,
and listening carefully to the disparate voices and concerns that filtered
through to him. This was geo-politics in action played out on a global stage.
To even get access to the Plenary room was an achievement. Thousands of activists and
campaigners were not allowed beyond the security fences, and even those who
were restricted to certain rooms and spaces. Meanwhile the corporate branding
was everywhere. From the Team Britain Formula E electric racing car to the ticker
tape displays reminded you that firms like NatWest, Microsoft, Unilever, and
Scottish Power were Principal Partners for the event. I noticed that #TogetherForOurPlanet was
the official hashtag, but the campaigners outside the fences might disagree. </span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">I have been to four COPS at this stage. COP15 in
Copenhagen back in 2009 had us holding our breath for a ‘Hopenhagen’ moment,
but it was not to be as Obama and China’s Wen Jinbao failed to bring the
ambition we needed to the table. A year later at COP16 in Cancún I was head of
a small delegation from Ireland and the talks process was on life support, but
it survived and COP17 in Durban gave a new lease of life to the process that
culminated in the Paris agreement at COP21 in Paris in 2015. Would the
postponed COP26 in Glasgow be different? Philip Boucher-Hayes <a href="https://twitter.com/boucherhayes/status/1459841286593302528?s=20">put </a>his finger on
it when he said that France had put years into preparing for the Paris COP.
There was not much sign of that with the UK Government. The acid test was in
India’s last-minute watering down of the core text on pushing for replacement
of the phase-out of coal with a reference to ‘phase-down’. As my MEP colleagues
for whom English is not their mother tongue said to me, “Is that even a word in
English?” I am not sure if it is. </span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">I some respects Nicola Sturgeon was a more compelling
figure that the UK’s COP26 President Alok Sharma MP who ended up apologising for the watered-down
text. Even though her stance on oil and gas is poor, she managed to convey the
sense of urgency that is needed on the climate crisis. Speaking in Glasgow, a city
which prospered on coal and steel, she knows that Scotland’s future prosperity
will be built on wind and solar. She also understands that this change must be
accelerated, not postponed. </span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">On the substance of the COP26 texts, Fossil Fuels,
Loss and Damage, and Article 6 were the crunch issues</span><span>. </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">On fossil fuels,
unabated coal, and inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels were at the heart of the
debate. Although the end of the oil gas and coal age was signaled, the can
continues to be kicked down the road, but the final text while clunky did
indicate that fossil fuels days are numbered. It stated: “<i>Accelerating </i></span><i><span role="presentation" style="transform: scaleX(0.945016);">efforts </span><span role="presentation" style="transform: scaleX(0.903675);">towards </span><span role="presentation" style="transform: scaleX(0.877942);">the </span><span role="presentation" style="transform: scaleX(0.881234);">phasedown </span><span role="presentation" style="transform: scaleX(0.97083);">of </span>unabated coal
power and phase<span role="presentation">-</span><span role="presentation" style="transform: scaleX(0.922289);">out </span><span role="presentation" style="transform: scaleX(0.933035);">of
inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, while providing </span>targeted support to
the poorest and most vulnerable</i>.”</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">'Loss and Damage' featured in discussions, but it was
clear that the US did not want to come to a decision on this and open a Pandora’s
Box of historical blame. The word reparations came up in the corridors, and in news commentary, but it will be hugely challenging to make
the Western World face up to their obligations to compensate the Developing
World for damage caused by a problem that was not of their making. </span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">The Article 6 mechanisms, set out the functioning
of international carbon markets to support further global cooperation on
emission reductions. A lot of work was completed in Glasgow to clear up the accounting
rules for carbon credits before and after the Paris Agreement and some
loopholes that allowed double accounting were closed. The elephant in the room:
the give-away of free carbon credits to the largest polluters was not up for
discussion.</span><span></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">I was pleased that references to ‘<i>Mother Earth’</i>
and ‘<i>Climate Justice’</i> <a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/cop26_auv_2f_cover_decision.pdf">made it</a> into the Glasgow Agreement, and here’s the
text on this: <i>“Noting the importance of ensuring the integrity of all
ecosystems, including in forests, the ocean and the cryosphere, and the
protection of biodiversity, recognized by some cultures as Mother Earth, and
also noting the importance for some of the concept of ‘climate justice’, when taking action to address climate change”</i></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">From a personal perspective it was great to meet civil society representatives from countries such as Bangladesh. It was also good to to catch up with Green colleagues such as Elizabeth May who became a Canadian MP shortly after I met her in Copenhagen in 2009. I also met Ross Greer MSP, another green who has been a strongly-opinioned member of the Scottish Parliament since 2016. I was also proud of the work of Green Ministers such as our own Eamon Ryan who chaired some of the negotiations over the last week. He had a great team assisting him in Glasgow, and strong support from our Civil Service.It was good too to catch up with my colleagues from the Dáil; Brian Leddin TD and Minister Malcolm Noonan. <br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;">However, these fruitful meetings were over-shadowed by conservative politicians who made so many weak and strung-out promises: for instance President Bolsonaro of Brazil said he will halt deforestation by 2030. This is too little, too late.
The 2020s need to be the decade of transformative change, and the heavy lifting
must be achieved in the next few years. Sometimes you didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the slow progress. Tuvalu is a low-lying island state and their stand at COP feature a group of polar bears wearing life-jackets and a penguin with a noose around it's neck, not a bad depiction of the climate crisis.<br /></span></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 107%;">The Glasgow COP
signaled that the world’s economies will shift towards a cleaner future, but
it did not provide the urgency or the money that is needed. It also exposed the
deep divisions between those in the room, and those excluded from process. When the COP caravan moves on to Egypt next year, these cracks may become larger and the divisions more pronounced between wealthy and poorer countries.<br /></span></span></span></p>
Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-38177694521763519402021-08-05T12:58:00.002+01:002021-08-05T21:46:07.073+01:00What next for Dublin's Charlemont Street?<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8XFAeoMaGKKHEFxDvv07uDy-GwCrDoPF1VZsHmIuQAdv8BGzST8kVgnaLtVi8ykhwuwMrcMrFYQk3ZmzKC40bai_mn0XcYrqwnHWvMifnFOAsZIro8ZpWrCLLQeqrsgfEX5NZuw/s2048/charlemont.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8XFAeoMaGKKHEFxDvv07uDy-GwCrDoPF1VZsHmIuQAdv8BGzST8kVgnaLtVi8ykhwuwMrcMrFYQk3ZmzKC40bai_mn0XcYrqwnHWvMifnFOAsZIro8ZpWrCLLQeqrsgfEX5NZuw/w400-h300/charlemont.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
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<![endif]--><span class="css-901oao">Looking down Dublin's Charlemont Street, pretty much
everything you see was built within the last thirty years. We haven't quite
cracked decent modern street design, have we? I mean, where are the trees!</span>
<p></p><p><span class="css-901oao">On the plus side we're at least building (or
re-building) streets again. Back in the 1980s many felt that car parking was best
placed in front of a new building, and the building itself should be set
back from the road. In many parts of Ireland this is still the case and road
traffic dominates. However, what struck me is that there isn't a shred of
greenery in the image. Best practice these days means at least planting street
trees along a road that is twenty metres wide. We could also do with some
public seating, protected cycle lanes, attractive streetlamps, less advertising
placards, and use decent materials rather than grey concrete for the footpaths
and tarmacadam for the roads. and that's only for starters. </span></p>
<p><span class="css-901oao">The challenge is that no-one sat down and <i>designed
</i>this street. Well, actually Sir Patrick Abercrombie did, back in the early
years of the twentieth century, but that's another story. Looking at what you
see here, architects designed the buildings on either side, and engineers
provided (and designed) the carriageway in between. I doubt that Dublin City
Council's urban planners or landscaping staff were even shown the drawings.
That is why we need a Head of Urban Design or Public Realm at Assistant Chief
Executive level within Dublin City Council. The Chief Executive Owen Keegan
should create this post and ensure someone with the ability to knock heads
together gets the job. </span></p>
<p><span class="css-901oao">What brought me into politics thirty years ago was
that the then Dublin Corporation felt that 'sorting out the traffic' was the
only game in town. By traffic they meant cars, and they were happy to demolish
chunks of the city to make it easier to drive from the suburbs to the city and
back every day. When I was first elected as a councillor in 1991 one of my
first acts was to seek support from dropping many of these ill-conceived road
proposals from our plans and promote light rail instead. As it happens at the
end of the view in this photo there used to be another street: 'Charlotte
Street', and it was built over by a developer. Dublin Corporation even held a
Street Closing Inquiry in the early 1990s, where I presented evidence that the
Street should be kept, rather than built on, but my plea fell on deaf
ears. </span></p>
<p><span class="css-901oao">Problems remain, though in recent years senior
Council staff understand that streets aren't just for traffic, they also have a
social and commercial function. Over the years we've moved the debate on from
providing from cars to facilitating public transport with the introduction of
Quality Bus Corridors in the late 1990s. Since then, initially reluctantly, but
now with enthusiasm Dublin City Council is rolling out walking and cycling
infrastructure. Even now there’s too much emphasis on plastic bollards, rather
than on using greenery or planters to separate cyclists from cars. New concerns
and ideas about greening our cities, and sustainable urban drainage demand a
co-ordinated and design-led approach. In the past, and in some quarters today
trees are seen as at best and afterthought, and at worst a problem, this must
change. I'm glad to see that the City Council has appointed an arboricultural,
or Street Tree Officer. Different players must work together in an
inter-disciplinary approach to 'co-create' quality spaces and places.
Communities also need to be at the centre of the process, and not just involved
through a public submission period after the plans have been drawn up. </span></p>
<p><span class="css-901oao">We need to adopt a 'whole streets' approach to ensure
everyone is focused on improving the public realm: from public lighting
engineers to the Parks Department. Far too different staff sit in separate
silos and communicate by long-distance semaphore! Within Dublin City Council I
struggled to ensure the posts of Dublin City Planning Officer, and City
Engineer were filled after long vacancies. We also have a City Architect. We
now need to complement these roles with a head of Urban Design. That person
could ensure that all these civic officials work together to up the quality of
our public realm. Simple tasks, like ensuring that road surfaces are reinstated
road works might come under their responsibility. As it happens, we do have a
Public Realm Strategy, but it can be hard to know who ensures that all staff
are focused on delivering it. Just look at the streetlights in this photo. No-one
in the Council woke up some morning and said I am going to give Charlemnt
Street the best new street lighting that we can design! The BusConnects project
has the potential to dramatically improved the public realm. Some of the draft
proposals are good, but others fall far short of what is required. Let's hope
that the plans that go to Bord Pleanála are of a high standard. If we try and
'bolt-on' bus lanes by widening streets and maintaining the same level of
car-use we will be on a hiding to nothing. </span></p>
<p><span class="css-901oao">Streets aren't just for traffic, they must provide
for social interaction and commercial activity, and this requires a joined-up
approach by developers, engineers, and all other disciplines to ensure the
public realm is improved. Back in 2010 when I was a Minister of State with
responsibility for planning and sustainable transport, I kicked off a process
that led to the publication of an Irish Design Manual for Urban Streets and
Roads (DMURS). It helps the different players to design a decent street, but it
doesn't automatically ensure that good design is achieved. We need to tackle
this, from providing decent street signs to getting rid of crappy randomly
placed utility boxes that were put in place with the Cross-City Luas. </span></p>
<p><span class="css-901oao">At this stage in Ireland, we need clearer guidance.
Transport for London have a '<a href="https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/streets-toolkit#on-this-page-0">Streets
Toolkit</a>' which is helpful, and they've also produced good information on
taking a '<a href="https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/how-we-work/planning-for-the-future/healthy-streets">Healthy
Streets</a>' Approach. DMURS helps, but more detailed street guidance is now
required. Often councillors get blamed for poor planning decisions and
poor streets. To a certain extent that is a fair criticism, but I would say
that the level of responsibility, funding and devolved powers in Irish local
government is amongst the worst in Europe. It is therefore hard for councillors
to make a difference. (Believe me, I've tried!) Looking ahead we need to devolve
more powers to our Councils, put in place an elected Mayor for greater Dublin,
and ensure a senior official is responsible for quality streets and providing
and managing the decent public realm. </span></p>
<p><span class="css-901oao">What next for Charlemont Street? That's up to Dublin
City Council. My work is focused on European issues, and while I do spend time
on policy documents such as a Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy where I'm
prioritising active travel (walking and cycling) and public transport, the EU
doesn't micro-manage things at a national or local level. Really it boils down
to local councillors and officials sitting down to get things right. Personally,
I'd reduce the street back to two rather than three lanes of motorised traffic,
and add segregated cycle lanes, as well as wider footpaths. I'd narrow the width of these lanes to around three metres, as wide lanes encourage speeding. I'd put in
semi-mature street trees with wide tree pits that allow for planting and storm
water drainage. I'd also put in attractive street lighting, and some quality
street benches or seating where neighbours or visitors could sit down and have a chat. All of this can be done, it simply requires the political will.
</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm;"> </p>
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-69978504451616663782021-03-16T18:28:00.001+00:002021-03-16T18:28:37.837+00:00Road Safety: what's happening in Europe?<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt92NJUc6kotLQh-GicIwZcOjNMwQq0Vm3_jYgoDwZSbMXNubZbXwB86wExXaaeBGRlJpFforDn853QuQvWBUywcJ3qNpvZL2Al9PD0_gHc0z_8WEZ5KPHYgmfdNpsGKlGZmScCg/s1581/crash.jpg" style="clear: left; display: block; float: left; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="889" data-original-width="1581" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt92NJUc6kotLQh-GicIwZcOjNMwQq0Vm3_jYgoDwZSbMXNubZbXwB86wExXaaeBGRlJpFforDn853QuQvWBUywcJ3qNpvZL2Al9PD0_gHc0z_8WEZ5KPHYgmfdNpsGKlGZmScCg/w667-h375/crash.jpg" width="667" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">
Road safety was back on the agenda today in the European parliament’s Transportation Committee. Here’s what I had to say to Matthew Baldwin who has responsibility for Road safety within the European Commission:
Mr. Baldwin, many thanks for coming to speak to us today about this very important issue. </span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Behind the road safety statistics lie human tragedies. Last Saturday, a young schoolboy David McHale died in a crash in the West of Ireland. Every week, 500 people die on EU roads. We are not meeting our targets, our Sustainable Development 2030 Goals. We need to progressively ramp up our ambition over time and get to Vision Zero sooner. I therefore have a number of questions: </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Firstly, will the Commission commit to publishing a strategy on safe active mobility that puts the safety of vulnerable road users first? The revision (Directive (EU) 2019/1936) of the Directive on Road Infrastructure Safety management Directive 2008/96/EC was welcome, but it covers rural roads, not urban roads.<span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>If our urban roads were a factory floor, it would be shut down on health and safety grounds</b></span>. We must up our game. Can we ensure urban roads are assessed for their safety, particularly for the most vulnerable? Can we make them safe and attractive for pedestrians, and indeed microbility? Covid-19 saw a drop in car journeys, and a boom in active mobility, and a drop in road accidents. We need to capitalise on these changes, because not only do we help protect road users, we reduce emissions and pollution, reduce congestion and its negative economic effects, and we promote the health of citizens. All such policy areas should feed into such a strategy. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Secondly, we urgently need to address speeding. Here in Brussels for example we are seeing the rollout of a 30km/h city-wide speed limit, average speeds are down which is good news, and countless studies have shown the effectiveness of such a strategy in reducing road deaths and injuries. The WHO states that for car occupants in a crash with an impact speed of 80 km/h, the likelihood of death is 20 times what it would have been at an impact speed of 30 km. Will the Commission therefore come forward with a recommendation on speed that in line with a Safe System approach? This could promote 40 km/h, not 50 km/h on radial routes, 30km/h speed limit on other urban roads. We should also consider lower speed limits lower on local roads where children play. For rural roads, 70km/h could similarly help reduce the number of accidents. On this point, the Commission should explore tying EU funding to the development and implementation of Sustainable Urban Mobility plans, and rural mobility plans. In both instances, road safety and the protection of vulnerable road users should be central to the plans.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"> Finally, when it comes to enforcement, there is a need to recognise driving disqualifications, penalty points systems across different Member States, and I would urge the Commission to include this in its revision of the cross-border enforcement directive. Penalty Points for speeding or drunk driving penalty points should not magically disappear when the driver crosses an international border.
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In reply Matthew Baldwin said the following:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>"Mr Cuffe you ask important questions. I'm not sure I can answer
them all. Will we produce a strategy on safe and active mobility? I hear you
loud and clear. We will be addressing that issue again in the urban mobility
package, which is coming out later this year. </i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>"You are right to say there is only a rule that requires
Member States to look at rural roads; they may take urban issues into account,
and for the first time, thanks to the pressure from a number of groups,
vulnerable users’ needs must be taken into account.</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i>"You’re right also to draw attention to the overall impact of
active mobility in terms of the health of our citizens and the calls for
sustainability. On 30 km per hour speed limits, I hear you loud and clear.
You are right, speed levels are down in Brussels by 9% over the first couple of
months. And the idea you have of tying European funding to
sustainable and rural mobility plans is an interesting one. We need to protect
the most vulnerable people on our roads. And this is something again we could
look at in our urban mobility package later this year."</i></p><p class="MsoNormal">I was pleased with his replies, but we must do more. I intend working with the World Health Organisation and European Transport Safety Council and others to push for progress on making our roads and streets not just safer, but much more inviting to all, particularly the most vulnerable.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><br /></span></div>Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-9292516901648863302021-03-04T11:19:00.003+00:002021-03-16T18:39:12.810+00:00Some thoughts on a Biden Presidency<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: verdana;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhJqwJ0xJe6WrMpfwwa7mX9djlu_ZQdi-BX1WGAJyZsnazSH1I0YzHKq89Fv1TWM222Z_ECq5AyG3yVJvkvUxQJL8CPTqRk09QXtiW5mbV5UGxFnxeHwPxUzVzFMtOXERe8h-WA/s1160/Joe.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="880" data-original-width="1160" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhJqwJ0xJe6WrMpfwwa7mX9djlu_ZQdi-BX1WGAJyZsnazSH1I0YzHKq89Fv1TWM222Z_ECq5AyG3yVJvkvUxQJL8CPTqRk09QXtiW5mbV5UGxFnxeHwPxUzVzFMtOXERe8h-WA/w640-h486/Joe.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>O</b></span><span>n</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;"> January 20th, a new dawn broke over America, taking it out of 4 long years of darkness brought about by the frenzied and belligerent Trump Administration. Many across the US and indeed quite a few people here in Europe breathed a sigh of relief when President Joe Biden was sworn into office. The grownups were finally back in the room, and they brought the scientists back with them.<br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121; font-family: verdana;">Many of the policies and actions of the Trump White House were met with dismay. The suggestions of drinking bleach as a cure-all to COVID_19. The images of tiny unaccompanied children sitting before judges in immigration courts. The violence and use of force deployed against BLM supporters for peacefully protesting. The depravity of the Capital riot seemingly encouraged and applauded by the then President Trump. The lowering of environmental standards such as revoking limits on dangerous methane emissions during oil and gas drilling operations that were ushered into legislation alongside almost gleeful declarations that climate change was a hoax. President Biden now has an opportunity to not only roll back on the damage wrought by Trump but to deliver on his own campaign slogan - Build Back Better.</span></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div role="document" style="background-color: white;"><div autoid="_rp_x" class="_rp_T4" id="Item.MessagePartBody" style="clear: both; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding-top: 4px; position: relative; text-align: left; top: -5px; width: auto;"><div class="_rp_U4 ms-font-weight-regular ms-font-color-neutralDark rpHighlightAllClass rpHighlightBodyClass" id="Item.MessageUniqueBody" style="color: #212121;"><span lang="en-GB" style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span><span><span lang="en-IE"> </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span><span><span lang="en-IE">Given the ticking clock on climate change - environmental policy is as good as any place to start. On day one, President Biden signed the executive order to re-join the Paris Climate Agreement, which will come into effect at the end of January. The internationally binding treaty, which Trump left the day before the 2020 US election commits countries to keep global warming well below 2°C. Re-joining the Paris Climate Agreement is a welcome move, and it brings the United States commitments in line with 190 other countries. It also marks the first steps on the road to delivering the Biden Administration’s $2 trillion climate and environment package.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span><span><span lang="en-IE"> </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span><span><span lang="en-IE">The Biden climate plan, like the EU Green Deal, is undoubtedly ambitious but urgently necessary. It matches the EU goals of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 by creating a series of overarching climate change tackling polices. It aims to end fossil fuel emissions from US power plants by 2035. Much like our own EU renovation wave- an initiative I led on in the European Parliament, the Biden climate plan will upgrade and retrofit 4 million buildings and homes over the next four years to increase energy efficiency. The Biden climate plan can create millions of new jobs in energy, transport and construction through the upgrading of infrastructure and moving toward public transportation in larger more urban areas- something we are also trying to do in the EU.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span><span><span lang="en-IE"> </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span><span><span lang="en-IE">It certainly seems that President Biden and Vice President Harris get the need for urgent climate action and understand how it affects people’s daily lives. Appointing an internationally recognised and experienced climate team - including former Obama Secretary of State John Kerry inspires confidence. The idea of a just transition for poorer communities is also at the heart of this new policy approach. Something alien to the previous administration. Disadvantaged communities are expected to receive some 40% of the overall benefits of the Biden climate plan through more affordable and sustainable housing, training and retraining the workforce, and tackling air and water pollution. As is the case in Europe, to tackle the climate emergency successfully, we must leave no one behind and ensure, as a priority, that the resources are there to help the most vulnerable.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span><span><span lang="en-IE"> </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span><span><span lang="en-IE">The comparisons between both the EU’s and the US’s new scientific approach to climate change are there for a reason. Ireland and the EU have always had strong ties with the US. Being able to work in tandem on tackling the climate emergency will only strengthen the transatlantic partnership. It will allow us to support and enable progressive and sustainable targets while also being able to call each other out if our policy areas and legislation are not hitting agreed climate goals.</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span><span><span lang="en-IE"> </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><span><span><span lang="en-IE">We won’t see change overnight. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Even the process of re-joining the Paris Agreement takes some time. And while the Biden climate plan doesn’t go quite as far as the Green New Deal proposed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and backed by Bernie Sanders in 2019 which called for zero carbon emissions by 2030-it is a radical improvement on the last lot! It’s a plan the EU can work with.</span></span></span></div></span></div></div><span class="PersonaPaneLauncher" style="font-family: verdana;"><div aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="false" ariatabindex="-1" class="_pe_d _pe_62" style="display: table; outline: none; overflow: hidden; vertical-align: middle; white-space: nowrap; width: 1239px;" tabindex="-1"></div></span></div><div class="_rp_Z4" style="background-color: white; clear: both;"></div><div class="_rp_65" style="background-color: white; height: 10px; width: 1239px;"><div class="_rp_75 ms-bg-color-neutralLighter" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; float: left; height: 10px; position: relative; width: 30px;"><button aria-label="Show message history" class="_rp_85 o365button" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-width: 0px; cursor: pointer; height: 11px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: -3.5px; width: 30px;" title="Show message history" type="button"><span class="_fc_3 owaimg ms-Icon--ellipsis ms-icon-wide-glyph ms-icon-tall-glyph ms-icon-font-size-12 ms-fcl-ns-b" style="display: inline-block; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1; vertical-align: middle;"></span></button></div></div>Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-84202128082311044342020-11-24T18:43:00.003+00:002020-11-26T12:22:34.691+00:00Reshaping our cities<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #212121;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJcO0pFZb4v17s1jHSaJlhOkhUk8ju0nAwcGO8T31MQE6X-8sAygV2FGfSGZhrz5fySqVtyrI0HPNl88_PZkaNdOEt3ne8XZepV49MvUxOfXbVaK1TLwo3RpA504j8tgD4cxSsw/s2048/ricky.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1506" data-original-width="2048" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJcO0pFZb4v17s1jHSaJlhOkhUk8ju0nAwcGO8T31MQE6X-8sAygV2FGfSGZhrz5fySqVtyrI0HPNl88_PZkaNdOEt3ne8XZepV49MvUxOfXbVaK1TLwo3RpA504j8tgD4cxSsw/w400-h294/ricky.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I
took part in the <a href="https://www.riai.ie/">RIAI</a>’s <a href="https://www.riai.ie/whats-on/riai-conference/riai-conference-2020">annual conference</a> today, virtually of
course. After Ciaran O’Connor’s opening remarks <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/sociology/people/ricky-burdett">Professor Ricky Burdett</a> from
the LSE gave a masterclass in how cities matter. I graduated last year from the
LSE <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/Cities">Masters Programme in Cities</a>, so it was great to be reacquainted with Ricky.
<a href="https://twitter.com/RosinMurphy?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">Roisin Murphy</a> was the MC, and we had campaigned together in my Students Against
the Destruction of Dublin (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Students_Against_the_Destruction_of_Dublin">SADD</a>) days, so it was a real reunion, particularly as
<a href="https://shaffrey-architects.squarespace.com/new-page">Grainne Shaffrey</a> who studied with me in UCD was also part of the discussion. <o:p></o:p></span><p></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #212121;"><span style="background-color: white;">Ricky’s keynote was on Shaping Cities in an Urban Age and he spoke with ease on the growing importance of cities, and the meteoric expansion of cities in Asia, and Africa. Not surprisingly he emphasised the issue of governance, a topic close to my heart! Grainne responded, and spoke about how </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">the Covid_19 pandemic has applied an ‘X Ray’ to our cities</span><span style="background-color: white;"> and allowed us to reconsider their strengths and weaknesses. It was Brendan Behan of course who stated that a city is a place where you are least likely to get a bite from a wild sheep, but thankfully our thinking on urban issues has evolved since then. </span></span><span style="background-color: white;">Our discussion was followed by a tour-de-force about the Living City from the great Danish urbanist </span><a href="https://gehlpeople.com/people/jan-gehl/" style="background-color: white;">Jan Gehl</a><span style="background-color: white;">, but I digress: let me tell you what I said.</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #212121;">I said that cities need to be affordable, cleaner, greener, and easier to get around. Urban areas are at the forefront in tackling climate change and bringing about a just transition. I said we need to make</span><span style="background: yellow;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">better use of the buildings and infrastructure</span></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: #fcff01;"> we already have</span><span style="background-color: white;">, whether that is in Dublin’s inner city or in towns and villages around the country. Simple proposals such as 'Living Over the Shop' need to be promoted. The '</span><a href="https://www.dublincity.ie/residential/planning/active-land-management/living-city-initiative" style="background-color: white;">Living City' </a><a href="https://www.dublincity.ie/residential/planning/active-land-management/living-city-initiative" style="background-color: white;">initiative </a><span style="background-color: white;">helps, but we need dedicated staff at the end of a phone within each Council to pick up the phone and ask 'How can I help'? This would help sort out the red tape of fire regulations, access for those with disabilities and conflicting planning codes. We also need densification and to focus on the quality of design. The ongoing </span><a href="https://www.gov.ie/en/consultation/d3f3a-review-to-renew-the-public-consultation-of-the-review-of-the-national-development-plan/" style="background-color: white;">review </a><span style="background-color: white;">of the National Development Plan is an opportunity to focus on the ‘Town Centre First’ wording in the Programme for Government. There's huge potential for new housing in existing urban areas, whether that is in Dublin’s inner city or in towns and villages around the country. Affordability has to be at the heart of this, and the '</span><a href="http://www.housingmodeldublin.ie/" style="background-color: white;">Vienna Model</a><span style="background-color: white;">' shows us what can be achieved.</span></span></span><o:p style="background-color: white;"></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #212121;">Covid_19 showed us the problem of mono-functional </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">zoning</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. The Central Business Districts of many cities are currently in an ‘induced coma’, particularly those that lack a residential population. In response we should </span><span style="background: yellow;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">adopt the </span><b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/c1a53744-90d5-4560-9e3f-17ce06aba69a">15-minute city</a></span></b></span><b><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">idea of Sorbonne Professor <a href="http://www.moreno-web.net/the-15-minutes-city-for-a-new-chrono-urbanism-pr-carlos-moreno/">Carlos Moreno</a> to underpin the </span><span style="background: yellow;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">next wave of Irish Development Plans. </span></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">This idea proposes that every city should have almost all that you need located within a 15-minute cycle or walk, so that we are not over-dependent on motorised travel. It has been adopted by Anne Hidalgo, Mayor Paris, which I guess is somewhat ironic given that in many respects it epitomises the 15-minute city, and it may be more appropriate to Houston, Texas.</span> </span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We need affordable homes in the city, rather than high rents for the few. We need </span><span style="font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;">minimum density</span><span style="font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to be imposed anywhere near a transit stop, and that should be around six stories. </span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #212121;">The Covid_19 Pandemic has underpinned the importance of good design and</span><span style="background: yellow;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> a </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">more equitable city</span></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">. Whether it is housing standards such as the provision of outside space. As we plan our cities. We need more workplaces in the suburbs, and more homes in the city. This will reduce our dependence on long-distance car commuting and reinvigorate our city centres as well as the dormitory towns. </span></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #212121;"><span style="background-color: white;">In urban areas we are finally seeing a more </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">equitable allocation of road space</span><span style="background-color: white;">, with wider footpaths and segregated cycle lanes, and this needs to continue. Tele-conferencing has reduced the need to travel, so perhaps we need to rethink some of our transport plans such as ‘</span><a href="www.busconnects.ie" style="background-color: white;">BusConnects</a><span style="background-color: white;">’. We don’t need to drop the plans, and the latest iteration is good, but it still follows the premise of giving us the options of taking the bus OR driving, and in doing so it risks failing as a ‘predict and provide’ approach to car-use is doomed to fail. We need to ensure that taking the car is not the easiest option and phase out the Internal Combustion Engine in our town and city centres. This will improve air quality, and even more desirable aim as we witness the links between high rates of Coronavirus infection in regions with poor air quality. </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #212121;"><span style="background-color: white;">Looking at the buildings that we design, we need to up our </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">minimum design standards</span><span style="background-color: white;">. Apartments need decent sized generous balconies, that are good enough to live in during a prolonged pandemic. Ventilation (as architects such as Orla Hegarty and others have said) is crucial. However, we also need adequate floor areas, and room heights greater than 2. 4m. On the issue of building </span></span><b style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">typologies</span></b><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"> should we continue to allow large building footprints that fill in an entire block of should we regulate for decent-sized courtyards with fresh air and sunlight?</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #212121;"><span style="background-color: white;">Technology should not dominate our architecture, but in a sense </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Le Corbusier was right. The building is a machine for living in</span><span style="background-color: white;">, and we need to ensure the machine is well designed. We need to electrify everything, and link together photovoltaic panels on our roofs to storage batteries, and the electric vehicle outside, as well as an easy-to-use App on our phone. </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #212121;">Ricky mentioned governance. We need to get urban governance right. Years ago, Henry Kissinger, asked who do you talk to when you want to talk to Europe? These days it might be European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. (The pedants among you might argue that it would be the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell). </span></span></span><span style="color: #212121; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: white;">In Dublin we are still not ready to answer the question about </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">who you talk to, when you want to talk to Dublin</span><span style="background-color: white;">.</span></span></p><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="color: #212121; font-family: verdana; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: white;">The big urban decisions around transport, housing, and infrastructure are metropolitan issues, and </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">we need a metro mayor</span><span style="background-color: white;">. The current Dublin Mayors: Councillor Hazel Chu in Dublin City; Councillor David Healy in Fingal; Councillor Una Power in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown; and Councillor Vicki Casserly are great but come next June they will be replaced. Having twenty mayors over 5 years in 4 local authority regions does not quite answer Henry Kissinger’s question, so it is now time for a metro Mayor. London has had one for the last twenty years, and it seems to have worked well. You might not like what Ken Livingstone, or Boris Johnson or Sadiq Khan has done, but at least you can vote to kick them out after five years, which is not possible for Chief Executives such as Owen Keegan who are often running the show behind the facade of democracy in our Councils. </span></span></p>
<p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin: 0cm 0cm 0cm 36pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #212121;"><span style="background-color: white;">Finally, we need to learn from other cities. </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Imagine if Dublin had</span><span style="background-color: white;"> the air quality of Stockholm; the integrated transport of Copenhagen; the social housing of Vienna, the parks of Berlin, or the craic of Galway! We should aim high and use the Covid_19 Pandemic as an opportunity to rethink</span><b style="background-color: white;"> </b></span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">of our policies for both the </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">space inside and outside of our buildings</span></span><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Cities have a bright future, but we need to plan for this now. </span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></o:p></p>Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-31251360752717283522020-06-18T00:25:00.008+01:002020-06-18T20:45:48.665+01:00Fail Better<span id="docs-internal-guid-230e43c3-7fff-4060-6c77-c1218d5bd4ea"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiI4c1VLvTW1qcAWSRodMzKStkVhDFhnmaWbbPH6iKJFr2Dd0bvPJGBfIkX3W363KzMsH-G17MwEMNRB2TdBycgkMYTE_dLPeVJ-qdZXmSHNp4wrRNYIW9YssTkTUQ9OtanpvyTQ/s1666/earth.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><font face="arial"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="1666" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiI4c1VLvTW1qcAWSRodMzKStkVhDFhnmaWbbPH6iKJFr2Dd0bvPJGBfIkX3W363KzMsH-G17MwEMNRB2TdBycgkMYTE_dLPeVJ-qdZXmSHNp4wrRNYIW9YssTkTUQ9OtanpvyTQ/w400-h225/earth.jpg" width="400" /></font></a></div><font face="arial"><i>"All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs."</i></font></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The lines came from Enoch Powell, and it wasn’t his rather chequered political career he was referring to, but that of Joseph Chamberlain, a British statesmen who wonderfully once campaigned on the slogan ‘</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">three acres and a cow</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’ to capture the agriculture vote. His son Neville became Prime Minister and perhaps lived up to Enoch’s assessment of his father, given that he sought to appease Hitler in the 1930s.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Politics is an unusual calling. We outbid our opponents in promises to voters, and ultimately disappoint our electorate when we do not deliver all we stood for. If we do not make promises, we are ignored, and so we walk a path between rhetoric and reality. We campaign in poetry and govern in prose. Ultimately, we can never deliver on all we set out to achieve. In the parallel universe of academia, propositions must be evidence-based, and better still published in peer-reviewed journals before they are accepted. In politics, we rely on the electorate, and the fourth estate to capture the essence of our ideas, and achievements, or lack of them. Even though our ideas and policies are grounded in evidence, their implementation relies on the goodwill of the electorate. Implementation of our entire Manifesto can never be achieved.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back when I was on Dublin City Council, Councillor Andrew Montague told me that all you ever get in politics is incremental change. Over time though, he went on to say, it adds up. You think you are achieving almost nothing and then, as the years pass you realise that the world has changed, and you played a part in making it happen. Back in the 1980s a group of us campaigned for light rail as an alternative to road building in Dublin. Our button badges read </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘trams not jams’</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Decision-makers laughed at us and accused us of being stuck in the past. In 1991, in my first term on Dublin City Council I worked with other councillors to promote public transport investment rather than roads. Over twenty years later I took my place on the first tram leaving Stephen’s Green. Subsequently, we launched a ‘</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Join the Dots’</span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> postcard campaign to link the red and green lines, and that took a decade to happen, with opposition from vested interests who felt the car should still be king. When I entered local government the city centre population was declining, and we feared Dublin would become a ‘doughnut city’ with a hollowed-out centre. The ‘Living City’ movement led by the late Deirdre Kelly turned the tide and paved the way for policies that allowed the inner city to double in population. Ideas take time to take root and grow. In the 1980s the Green Party campaigned for a Basic Income, and an end to smoky coal. The draft Programme proposes a National Clean Air Strategy, and a Basic Income trial. The steps to implementation are agonisingly slow.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thirteen years ago, I met a few pals in the Stag’s Head pub and discussed whether the Greens should enter Government. There was heated debate and no clear consensus. In these COVID days of back-to-back Zoom calls there hasn’t been the chance to catch up with my mates, and a pint in the pub is a distant memory. The question remains: should we enter Government or offer advice from the side-line. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The draft Government Programme is in sections visionary, but in other parts downright irritating. It proposes a marriage of convenience between three parties that are far from aligned in history or ideology. It is a tough read, all too often opts for studies, reviews and reports rather than action. It fails to grasp the nettle of Seanad reform, and does not recognise the severity of the housing and homeless crisis, and yet…</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Programme seeks to end Direct Provision by 2025; it allocates extraordinary funding to active travel and public transport and proposes to retrofit 500,000 homes by 2030. On housing it offers 50,000 social homes, and a Housing First approach to homelessness. It intends to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% within a decade. None of these gains will happen overnight, and it will take time to ramp up our efforts.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the planet continues to burn. Global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were 386 parts per million back in 2007. The number is 413 today. Since we met for a drink thirteen years ago almost 400 billion tonnes of CO2 have been added to global emissions. It is as clear that we need to act, with an urgency lacking in the major parties. We cannot state that we have a decade to save the earth and then suggest that we sit this one out until the time is right. Meanwhile in the European Parliament we’re adopting a European Green Deal and a Just Transition for regions moving to a low-carbon economy. We can do that here at home. With twelve TDs we cannot dictate policy in every aspect of the new Government's work, but we can sow seeds that will grow over time.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Being in Government from 2007 to 2011 was hard. It may be even tougher now. No-one knows how long the COVID-19 pandemic will last, or its long-term impact on our economy that is highly dependent on exports and tourism. If we do enter Government, it will be a tough and demanding job. A decade after we were spat out, I believe we should enter Government again, and play our part in tackling the immense challenges that lie ahead. The road ahead is a tough one, and there will be failures as well as gains. We will never realise all that we wish to achieve, and regardless of the outcome, there will always be naysayers suggesting that we have achieved nothing. The issues are urgent, we cannot wait. I believe we should enter Government.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <i>Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.</i></span></p><br />Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-62927267298510143202020-02-23T12:12:00.000+00:002020-02-23T12:49:22.168+00:00A crash course in Stockholm<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiltJgo8ljHXGIgN_yO-5AFgB1gSRLPd_5m6IheMHZd3obHojr0S2jjSJ_0xeDZf0IOSsnvLlYt75QvePcGwuV2ELb9itFPOZqrJKfc6LmUXhwbDb3uNORBWa2Cpuozs9gusbupeg/s400/Shoes+20200218_103129.jpg" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3,500 pairs of shoes representing those who die in crashes every day</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">‘The
day the knock on the door came'.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">This phrase came up time and again
in the three days I spent in Stockholm at a <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=2ahUKEwjth4qNrufnAhU2QUEAHRQwC8cQFjAAegQIAhAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.roadsafetysweden.com%2F&usg=AOvVaw0HX9JAvjTfj88LTWIeBnAa">Road Safety Conference</a>. For many at
the conference that knock represented the day their lives changed utterly when someone called to their
door with the news that one of their loved ones had died in a road crash. For others
in attendance giving that news was part of their job description. Every one of
the 1,700 people in attendance wanted to reduce the toll. Over a million die
every year on the world's roads, and many more suffer life-altering injuries. I was there
representing the European Parliament at the Global Network for Road Safety
Legislators, and to speak at a session examining how we can use
procurement rules to reduce the carnage. The outcome of the Conference - the <a href="https://www.roadsafetysweden.com/about-the-conference/stockholm-declaration/">Stockholm</a> <a href="https://www.roadsafetysweden.com/about-the-conference/stockholm-declaration/" rel="nofollow">Declaration</a> ties road safety in to the Sustainable Development Goals and will hopefully reduce fatalities and injuries in the coming decade. Hats off to the Swedish Government and the World Health Organisation for bringing us all together.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">Road
deaths are increasing around the world with increased motorisation. The
developing world is struggling to keep up with a flood of new and second-hand
vehicles that are often sub-standard. A heart-stopping display of 3,700 pairs of shoes in Stockholm’s
Central Railway Station reminded us that this number of lives are lost each day
on our roads. Nearby was a display of two pick-up trucks, crashed into each other.
They illustrated the disparity between safety standards in Europe and Africa.
The new vehicle for sale in South Africa had crumpled, the older European
vehicle was relatively intact.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">There
is some good news. In Europe, deaths have dropped from the staggering level of
75,000 per year in 1990 to around 25,000 per year today. The European
Commission have a ‘Vision Zero’ plan that takes its title from a Swedish initiative
adopted in 1997 with the principle that ‘<i>life and health can never be exchanged
for other benefits within the society’</i>. Dr. Matts-Åke Belin developed the <a href="https://www.trafikverket.se/en/startpage/operations/Operations-road/vision-zero-academy/">Vision Zero Academy</a> to spread the message. He advises road safety bodies on how they
can reduce road deaths and injuries. Every September it holds an intensive one-week
course to show how this can be achieved. Designing roads for safety over speed helps
achieve this, as well as installing barriers to separate lanes of traffic
travelling in opposite directions. Such barriers - made from steel or concrete can
improve safety by 90% compared to roads without separation. In cities lowering speeds improves safety. Vision Zero works. In Oslo only one person was killed on their roads last year. In Dublin city around ten lives are lost annually, and around twenty in Greater Dublin. We have a lot to learn from our Nordic colleagues.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">Of
course, it is not just about the road: drivers and vehicles also have a crucial
role to play. Young male drivers are particularly vulnerable, and initiatives
to work with youth groups on designated driver programs can change hearts and
minds, and save lives. Designated driver programmes can lead to less drunk driving. Vehicles are getting safer, thanks to new European laws
that mandate air bags, and other safety features such as alerting emergency
authorities when sensors indicate that a vehicle has been in a crash. In recent
years it seems that ‘distracted driving’ -looking at screens rather than the
road is also taking a toll and contributing to a flat-lining of safety
improvements in Europe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">At
the conference, I met with Barry Sheerman MP, a UK campaigner from
Huddersfield and chair of the Global Legislators' Group on roaf safety. When I Googled him to spell his name correctly the first result
was ‘Is Barry Sheerman still an MP?’ Well he certainly is! First elected in
1979, he campaigned in 1981 to make seat belt wearing a legal requirement, an
initiative that has saved countless lives. However, there is always the danger
that benefits of new safety measures are gobbled up by more risk-taking. John
Adams, author of ‘<a href="http://www.john-adams.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/RISK-BOOK.pdf">Risk’</a> suggests that one of the best ways to cut down on
speeding would be to get rid of seat belts, and place a large spike in the
middle of the steering wheel facing the driver! Such a feature might reduce
speeds, and save lives, but might be hard to get past lawmakers! I also caught
up with Bronwen Thornton from <a href="https://www.walk21.com/">Walk21</a>, an NGO that does sterling work in
advocating for walkable communities and improvements in the public realm.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">We
should not just focus on people inside the vehicles. We need to ensure those
outside of the vehicle are protected, and not prevented from going about their
daily lives in safety. We shouldn’t have to dress up children up like
construction workers in Hi-Viz just so they can walk safely to school. I’d be
critical of our own Road Safety Authority for putting too much pressure on
pedestrians and cyclists to be ultra-visible, and not placing enough emphasis
on reducing dangerous driving and speeding which claim so many lives each year.
Being overweight or obese is one of the biggest causes of premature death in
Europe, and we need to ensure that people get sufficient exercise and aren’t
driven, or drive everywhere. We must ensure active travel such as walking and
cycling is normalised, and encouraged: <span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>not seen as an adventure-sport with clothing
to<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>match. In the space of a generation,
many children have seen their independent spatial mobility dramatically
reduced, and it is crucial that we reclaim the street and our roads as a place for
all, and not just cars.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">It
was good to see representatives from Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the Road
Safety Authority (RSA) in attendance, I
even had a good old argy-bargy about the Galway Ring Road with a senior Department of Transport official who argued that a new
road is needed there so that there’s space for a better bus service! I told him
that I had been hearing arguments like that since the last century, and quite
frankly we needed to move with the times and stop putting investments in public transport on the long finger. I also met Chair of the RSA Liz O’Donnell who told me that the post to replace Moya Murdoch as CEO is currently
advertised. Even Acting Minister Ross turned up, and I wished him well in his
future endeavours. The main outcome of the Conference was the approval of a <a href="https://www.roadsafetysweden.com/contentassets/b37f0951c837443eb9661668d5be439e/stockholm-declaration-english.pdf">StockholmDeclaration on Road Safety</a>. It neatly aligns road safety objectives with the
Sustainable Development Goals, and seeks enhanced action.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">In
my contribution to the Global Legislators Forum, I made five points:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">1.
<u>Vision Zero has to be at the heart</u> of all we do. We need more good laws
at a European level, and I received a useful briefing on this from Elizabeth
Werner who works in the European Commission. We need to ensure consistency on
driver licenses across the EU; more measures on cross-border enforcement (that
speeding ticket you got in Italy!), and move forward with the Infrastructure
Safety Management Directive which will audit major roads to ensure that pedestrians
and cyclists, as well as motorists are safe.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">2.
<u>We need smarter vehicles</u>. By smart I don't simply mean more electronic wizardry. Sometimes
it means getting rid of SUVs in cities whose bonnets are higher than a child’s head. It
can also mean phasing out polluting vehicles whose manufacturers lied to us
about emissions, and which contribute to premature deaths from air pollution. Autonomous vehicles may help, but many at the Conference argued that they should be required to sit a driving test! Some expressed concern at the rise of eScooters and other microbility solutions. Others suggested that they might put pressure on local authorities to make roads safer for all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">3.
<u>Travelling less</u> can also play a role. That can mean working from home
one day a week. It can also mean mixed-use planning so that people do not have
to travel long distances for work, or if they do ensuring that there is public
transport and active travel options available.<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Getting around by bus
and rail are so much safer than driving, and putting in place SUMPs
(Sustainable Mobility Plans) can help make this happen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">4.
<u>Safe speeds</u> are crucial. Rod King, the guru behind ‘<a href="http://www.20splenty.org/">20’s</a> <a href="http://www.20splenty.org/">Plenty’</a> was at the
conference. He is a passionate advocate for 20 mph speed limits in residential
areas in the UK, and <a href="http://www.love30.ie/">30 km/h</a> limits in other countries. Lower speeds save
lives, and in Ireland <a href="https://www.rsa.ie/Documents/Road%20Safety/Speed/RRD_Res_20190204_FreeSpeedSurvey2018FINAL.pdf">many if not most</a> drivers in areas with low speed limits break the law. An Garda Síochána needs to treat speeding seriously. If similar numbers died due to Gangland crime Governments would fall. Some Government enthusiasm for speed enforcement using traffic cameras would also be useful. Hopefully <a href="https://etsc.eu/faq-intelligent-speed-assistance-isa/">Intelligence Speed Assistance</a> will help in the years to come. We also need to reduce speed limits from 50 km/h to 40 km/h on urban arterial
roads, and consider 20 km/h limits where children may be present in significant
numbers. I have even seen 10 km/h speed limits on public roads in German cities
beside children’s playgrounds. Sounds good to me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">5.
My last plea was for <u>less victim blaming</u>. All too often, we allow statements
like ‘I couldn’t see you’ or ‘The sun was in my eyes’ go unchallenged. We need
to remember the title of Ralph Nader’s book ‘<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/27/automobiles/50-years-ago-unsafe-at-any-speed-shook-the-auto-world.html">Unsafe at any speed’</a> and take more
decisive action to make our roads safer. Mayer Hillman, one of my heroes co-authored
a report ‘One False Move’ that took its title from a UK government pamphlet
that seemed to shift blame to young pedestrians for bad driving by others. Another co-author John Whitelegg was also there, and we swopped notes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">In
a session entitled ‘<a href="https://www.roadsafetysweden.com/programme/programme/20-february2/parallel-sessions-0900-1000/">Producing and Consuming Responsibly’</a>, I spoke about the rule
of the European Union saving lives on our roads. We can do this by incentivising
modal shift to combined mobility and public transport. Recent Commission
guidance on Green Public Procurement <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/pdf/criteria/transport.pdf">mentions</a> other initiatives such as promoting the use of speed
limiters in vehicles. Prioritising measures such as these in procurement can save lives. The EU needs to take a more active role in pushing for a whole
systems approach that would tackle road safety along with promoting mode shifts, active
travel, and improving air quality. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">What did I learn from the Conference? Governments must redouble their efforts to reduce speeds on our roads. We should (with thanks to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWaGhz_Q8os">Teresa Mannion</a>) avoid unnecessary journeys. Where possible, prioritise buses and trains over cars. We must normalise and encourage walking and cycling as the benefits go far beyond road safety. At a European Union level we must stop exporting second-rate vehicles to the rest of the world. Finally we must strive for the Vision Zero approach pioneered in Sweden, and embed this into all our thinking.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0px;">I have no doubt that if we do this properly,
we would have more people leading safer, and healthier longer lives, and a
reduction in carbon emissions as well. What’s not to like!</span></div>
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-14442363846080290452020-01-20T17:13:00.003+00:002020-01-20T17:27:05.067+00:00On the buses <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="779" data-original-width="1600" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga4KOTI7qGUtZ1UEOrUSQFqaM2t4v43rlLcaLLNMJsilNVtr1-k5P4R2nLvdt9Hx6zPvmYd3RSvn-wsZVyc4coRPKUAtEPKrqoC-QzzOyEakydiUd9r17zEYdrdU5zID8bPWZqWg/s400/Screenshot+2020-01-20+at+13.42.35.png" width="400" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Loads of interest in my meeting with Ray Coyne Chief Executive in Dublin Bus last Friday. Around a hundred of you responded to my call out on Twitter, and I put some of your questions to Ray in his office on O'Connell Street. <span style="color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I punched the Twitter queries into a pie chart, and both operational changes and cleaner buses came in streets ahead of other issues. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As it happens Ray started off with a discussion about bus stops. Often they are the place where kids hang out, and we discussed how to make them more interesting, and perhaps less prone to vandalism. Some Parisian bus stops have book shelves, and there's some great bus stops abroad with green sedum planting, so maybe scope for improvement. We also touched on a feminist perspective on bus routes. Always a bit dodgy for two guys to get their heads around this, but my colleague Tara Connolly had suggested that traditionally bus routes emphasise radial journeys between home and work, rather than catering for the multi-point trips that are common for women so I thought I'd mention it. This opens up a whole discussion about Le Corbusier's <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=11&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiZzqi42ZLnAhWiM-wKHSk9AJsQFjAKegQIAhAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F1973%2F07%2F22%2Farchives%2Fle-corbusier-vision-of-a-city-rejected-in-zoning-plan-le-corbusier.html&usg=AOvVaw1sASJPFpTHxSWQrZqKfZuF">flawed vision</a> of the zoned city that separated work from home, but we didn't have time to get stuck into this. In fairness, the Bus Connects proposals from the NTA do stress the routes that encircle the city that are currently poorly served, and hopefully these will be improved in the years ahead. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">On the big picture, <span id="docs-internal-guid-63d7ae9b-7fff-c6d3-96b0-7d6d08e531b3" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">@RobinCafolla asked how could we double passenger numbers in five years? Good question, and if we're to tackle climate change and reduce congestion we need to vastly improve our public transport offering. Ray says their bus numbers have more or less been around 1,100 vehicles for a round a decade, but there's been a bit of an increase in recent years. This may have been a way of avoiding the ban on purchase of 100% diesel buses that came in last year, or perhaps it was a response from the NTA to increased demand for buses, who knows. Ray felt if the fleet could be increased to 1,600 buses it would make a huge difference in capacity.
Buses aren't cheap though. They cost around €350,000, or €500,000 for a hybrid bus. A fully electric bus may cost up to €650,000 so it won't be cheap to electrify the fleet. No doubt these costs will drop significantly over the coming years. L<span style="background-color: white; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">ast Autumn </span>I went along to the annual Busworld expo in Brussels (sad, I know), and there were lots of new all-electric buses on display. Shenzhen in China has an <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj96Y6YopLnAhWjMewKHWtVCiQQFjAAegQIBBAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fcities%2F2018%2Fdec%2F12%2Fsilence-shenzhen-world-first-electric-bus-fleet&usg=AOvVaw0hudA77bybDTrfQpzxvX-V">all-electric fleet</a> of 16,000 buses, but is one of the few Chinese cities that has fully embraced electrification. The carbon footprint of travelling by bus has decreased in recent years and is now just over 60 grams per passenger kilometre. This is a big improvement, but congestion has slowed down buses considerably. Everyone wants to see improved enforcement of bus lanes. Some number plate recognition cameras and fixed penalties would help, but in the meantime over to you @GardaTraffic! Reliability came up in your comments, and the hope is that Bus Connects can improve this. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-63d7ae9b-7fff-c6d3-96b0-7d6d08e531b3" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-63d7ae9b-7fff-c6d3-96b0-7d6d08e531b3" style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="display: inline; float: none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.3125; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: inherit; word-spacing: 0px;">@areyousreious asked why can't we have a circular bus service beside the Royal and Grand Canals, and as it happens, this IS proposed in the Bus Connects plans. It'll need to be single decker to make it under the low bridges, and fingers crossed will be in place if Bord Pleanála approves the plans.
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cheaper fares were sought by @Kodomonster, and while that is out of the hands of Dublin Bus, it should be on the agenda of the National Transport Authority and the next Government. In Vienna my Green party colleague and Deputy Mayor Maria Vassilakou introduced a €365 <i>annual</i> fare for public transport and it has been a great success. I see David McWilliams has been advocating free public transport recently, and while I'd love to see this happen, if it was introduced tomorrow we simply wouldn't have sufficient buses to cope with the demand. I feel we should start off with free transport for children on Saturday, and then depending on capacity extend that all week, or to students and see how we get on. I'll be watching Luxembourg closely as they plan to introduce free travel from March of this year. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-63d7ae9b-7fff-c6d3-96b0-7d6d08e531b3" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #00e000; display: inline; float: none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.3125; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: inherit; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-63d7ae9b-7fff-c6d3-96b0-7d6d08e531b3" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255 , 255 , 255 , 1); color: #00e000; display: inline; float: none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.3125; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: inherit; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-6c176487-7fff-ef62-30aa-049cde910051" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">@AnnieAura asked that @DublinBusNews tweet when a bus doesn’t run, and maybe this could be considered. <span id="docs-internal-guid-31534b06-7fff-288c-b9b3-08399bc7898b" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">@Ten4GudBuddy asked for a clean-up of the cluttered Dublin Bus web site, and I've asked Ray Coyne to consider this. </span><span id="docs-internal-guid-31534b06-7fff-288c-b9b3-08399bc7898b" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-94eee92d-7fff-f7fb-c8ff-ab4fc0c5f533" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">@Seathrun666 suggested signs on the back of buses allowing them to pull out. I actually remember these being in place as part of the Dublin Transportation Task Force's remit around about a million years ago, and it would be good if they could be reintroduced. Issues around broken wheelchair ramps were raised by </span></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-31534b06-7fff-288c-b9b3-08399bc7898b" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-94eee92d-7fff-f7fb-c8ff-ab4fc0c5f533" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-0ca7c1e5-7fff-8451-7171-5c6b46b88591" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">@karlodwyer; internal ventilation by </span></span></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-31534b06-7fff-288c-b9b3-08399bc7898b" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-94eee92d-7fff-f7fb-c8ff-ab4fc0c5f533" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-0ca7c1e5-7fff-8451-7171-5c6b46b88591" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-71586d58-7fff-02fa-0f87-d4a478a0231d" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">@PositiveWork, and increasing the distance between </span></span></span></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-31534b06-7fff-288c-b9b3-08399bc7898b" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-94eee92d-7fff-f7fb-c8ff-ab4fc0c5f533" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-0ca7c1e5-7fff-8451-7171-5c6b46b88591" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-71586d58-7fff-02fa-0f87-d4a478a0231d" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-bfbb98b6-7fff-7a98-5c14-76c86ea135ee" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">bus stops got mentioned by </span></span></span></span></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-31534b06-7fff-288c-b9b3-08399bc7898b" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-94eee92d-7fff-f7fb-c8ff-ab4fc0c5f533" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-0ca7c1e5-7fff-8451-7171-5c6b46b88591" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-71586d58-7fff-02fa-0f87-d4a478a0231d" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-bfbb98b6-7fff-7a98-5c14-76c86ea135ee" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-bfbb98b6-7fff-7a98-5c14-76c86ea135ee" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">@ChrisClarkprjct. </span></span></span></span></span></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-31534b06-7fff-288c-b9b3-08399bc7898b" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-94eee92d-7fff-f7fb-c8ff-ab4fc0c5f533" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-0ca7c1e5-7fff-8451-7171-5c6b46b88591" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-71586d58-7fff-02fa-0f87-d4a478a0231d" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-bfbb98b6-7fff-7a98-5c14-76c86ea135ee" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-bfbb98b6-7fff-7a98-5c14-76c86ea135ee" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d9950988-7fff-7779-a433-87a14d56645c" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">@mushypea007 asked about follow up on complaints, and the dreaded web form also got a mention. It seems to me that publication of issues and statistics from the web forms submitted would be worth undertaking, and I've asked for this.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-63d7ae9b-7fff-c6d3-96b0-7d6d08e531b3" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255 , 255 , 255 , 1); color: #00e000; display: inline; float: none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.3125; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: inherit; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-6c176487-7fff-ef62-30aa-049cde910051" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-31534b06-7fff-288c-b9b3-08399bc7898b" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-94eee92d-7fff-f7fb-c8ff-ab4fc0c5f533" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-0ca7c1e5-7fff-8451-7171-5c6b46b88591" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-71586d58-7fff-02fa-0f87-d4a478a0231d" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-bfbb98b6-7fff-7a98-5c14-76c86ea135ee" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-bfbb98b6-7fff-7a98-5c14-76c86ea135ee" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d9950988-7fff-7779-a433-87a14d56645c" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ghost buses came up for discussion. This refers to buses that appear on Real Time Passenger Information displays (or online) and then disappear. This is infuriating and Ray is well aware of the problem, which is often caused when a bus gets to a terminus to late to start at the correct time and then waits for the next slot. The new contract between Dublin Bus and the National Transport Authority which kicked off within the last month penalises Dublin Bus for not keeping to time, so fingers crossed things will improve. </span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Using the centre doors came up as an issue from @GIviable, @SeanPolDeBurca, @_somerville_, @BrahmaMull. It seems to be a no-brainer, and although perhaps drivers are concerned about fare evasion, it makes sense to use them at crowded bus stops. </span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Many of you including <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">@athenamediaie </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">@wrafter_colin </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">@AlanDillon68 </span>want Dublin Bus to go cashless. This would reduce 'dwell time' and is certainly worth doing. It is the norm in other cities. The percentage of Leap card users is increasing every year and it makes sense to make the change over as the cost of a €5 Leap card is similar to two bus rides. The NTA has plans to further reduce the extra cost of transferring from one bus to another, and the sooner this happens the better. In London you don't even need the Oyster card anymore as public transport works using a debit card, but Ray told me that this is at least two years away.
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-63d7ae9b-7fff-c6d3-96b0-7d6d08e531b3" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255 , 255 , 255 , 1); color: #00e000; display: inline; float: none; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.3125; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: inherit; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-6c176487-7fff-ef62-30aa-049cde910051" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-31534b06-7fff-288c-b9b3-08399bc7898b" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-94eee92d-7fff-f7fb-c8ff-ab4fc0c5f533" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-0ca7c1e5-7fff-8451-7171-5c6b46b88591" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-71586d58-7fff-02fa-0f87-d4a478a0231d" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-bfbb98b6-7fff-7a98-5c14-76c86ea135ee" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-bfbb98b6-7fff-7a98-5c14-76c86ea135ee" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d9950988-7fff-7779-a433-87a14d56645c" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Many of you raised the issue of close passes by buses of cyclists. From personal experience this can be really scary. Most drivers are absolute professionals, but it would be good to know what action is taken if a driver doesn't make the grade, and I've asked Ray to come back to me on this. I know that there are some good driver education <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ABecwtLmUI">videos</a> produced by Dublin Bus, but it would be great to get bus drivers out on a bike to see things themselves from over the handlebars rather than through the windscreen. @BrightYoungTing mentioned the 'cat and mouse' nature of cycling in shared bus lanes, and @Lorraine_F_22, @Dublin_Suzy, @Rachaelworld, @thearthritictri, @nick_murphy_ie, @xart00n, @DublinPedaller, @WeCanHave, @DevinemjMark all mentioned their concerns about close passes. </span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">City centre congestion got several mentions. <span id="docs-internal-guid-ab461f97-7fff-9ce9-9280-19c592d30370" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">@AlanDillon68 asked why every bus seems to go through College Green. Shift changes in the city centre came in for criticism as passengers can be left waiting. In addition several people suggested new routes. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">@FintanDamer wants to see a bus service for Stamullan in County Meath from Dublin Bus, and why not if Newcastle in County Wicklow has one? Both </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">@dwain_schouten and <span style="background-color: rgba(255 , 255 , 255 , 1); color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">@AcuRodos would love to see a service connecting </span>Dublin Airport to Blanchardstown and Ashtown. Some of this will make it into the Bus Connects plans. </span></span></span></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-ab461f97-7fff-9ce9-9280-19c592d30370" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another long-term issue is freeing up some of the inner city bus depots for redevelopment. I've been harping on about this for over a decade, and Ray was engaged with the issue. He would prefer to see these locations intensified, rather than seeing Dublin Bus being moved out altogether. As the bus fleet gets cleaner and quieter there could be scope for mixed-use development in several locations. Living over the bus station could even become a thing! I still believe some of the sites currently occupied by Dublin Bus at Broadstone and Summerhill could serve better uses and we'll see how this develops. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">@aoifemace would like to see Sport facilities at Summerhill, and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">@dgunningdes would like to see the equivalent of the Barbican at Broadstone! I warmed to this one, as two years ago I set my MSc in Urban Regeneration and Development students at TU Dublin the task of reimagining Broadstone Bus Depot, and they were enthusiastic about seeing more appropriate uses on those lands.
The big picture is that buses are the real people mover in Dublin City. The entry of Go-Ahead, a private operator into the market has given an opportunity for Dublin Bus to meet growing demand, though I believe Dublin Bus should remain as the lead player in the market. I congratulated him on the provision of the two new night bus routes since last November with the 41 linking the city centre to Swords via the airport, and the 15 linking Clongriffin via the city centre every half hour through the night. We desperately need improvements in bus reliability, and if Bus Connects is delivered properly it can be done without felling hundreds of trees, or removing heritage buildings and features. There's also huge scope to increase capacity, and, looking to the example of cities abroad that provide better value fares.
I didn't get a chance to raise all your queries with Ray, but I have written to him separately, and will update this piece once I hear back from him. </span></span></span></span></div>
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Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-17632332185526427392019-12-20T16:22:00.001+00:002019-12-22T13:36:36.931+00:00European Parliament update, six months on...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVqIaYYuYd8sMRVxvYEWjcQj70HTsat57G9r3pp074-6790PXtkKQDq131wQwnVAw_zK2x9ejFlVMDeIm4hBHDcn6tNeumISAeJqm2-uoDIiCkv-uqY-ZLvEMfUpHHMvqlCMpLw/s1600/Strasbourg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="426" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyVqIaYYuYd8sMRVxvYEWjcQj70HTsat57G9r3pp074-6790PXtkKQDq131wQwnVAw_zK2x9ejFlVMDeIm4hBHDcn6tNeumISAeJqm2-uoDIiCkv-uqY-ZLvEMfUpHHMvqlCMpLw/s400/Strasbourg.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well, that was quick. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Just over six months into my mandate as a Member of the
European Parliament for Dublin, and it has been busy!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I called it the “Climate Change Election” when I launched my
campaign last April, and thankfully there’s been some progress on this at the European
level. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The headline item has been the
announcement of a <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en">European Green Deal</a><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">. First announced by Ursula von der Leyen the new European Commission
President</span> early in her mandate, she fleshed this out in more detail in
early December, and we’ll see more details emerge by early March, This will fulfil
her promise to launch an ambitious programme within one hundred days of taking
office. Radical changes are needed in energy, transport, buildings and agriculture to deliver on this. We'll know more in the Spring of 2020 about the level of ambition from the new Commission and Parliament.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For me it has been a steep learning curve. Firstly, the
balance of powers between the different European Union institutions have become
clearer to me. The European Parliament is an amending legislature. We can’t
initiate new laws, but we can modify proposals that come from the European
Commission, composed of twenty-seven European Commissioners, including
Ireland’s own Phil Hogan who now looks after trade issues, having previously
had responsibility for agriculture. Apart from von der Layen it will be
interesting to watch two senior Commissioners: <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/commissioners/2019-2024/vestager_en">Margrethe Vestager</a> from Denmark
who leads on digital issues, and <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/commissioners/2019-2024/timmermans_en">Frans Timmermans</a> a former Foreign Affairs
Minister of the Netherlands who will look after the implementation of the Green
Deal. I sit on the TRAN Committee (short for transport) as well as ITRE (which
has responsibility for industry, telecoms, research and energy). I also keep a
watching brief on REGI (which deals with urban and regional affairs). All three
committees have key roles to play in tackling greenhouse gas emissions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Remember that the European Union doesn’t and can’t tackle
everything: under the principal of ‘subsidiarity’ it can only address issues
that the Member States have decided should be dealt with at European level.
That means we can’t tackle housing issues, but I can put pressure on the
European Investment Bank and other bodies to ramp up their focus on these
issues. When it comes to tackling climate change the EU does have an important
role: it sets targets and provides support to countries to ensure that they are
achieved. For instance the European Performance of Buildings Directive ensures
that new buildings have to meet an A energy rating, and there will be more work
on this front in the years ahead. I want to try and ensure that local authority
homes are retro-fitted with insulation, draught-proofing and new heating
systems, to ensure that fuel poverty is tackled, and cold damp homes are a thing
of the past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Irish Green Party is part of the <a href="https://www.greens-efa.eu/en/">Greens/European Free Alliance</a> group within the Parliament. We comprise seventy-four members, or
almost 10% of the 751 seat Parliament, and we have a pretty good track record
in making substantive and considered amendments to proposed laws. Last week I
participated in the Transport Committee and we burnt the midnight oil to
improve the working conditions and driving times of lorry drivers. A lot of drafting
was put into improving road safety and worker’s rights to ensure that drivers
get proper breaks and don’t sleep in their cabs for weeks on end. We eventually
finished our work at 6:45am. Talk about a baptism of fire! Of course, any changes
we make must be signed off by the relevant Transport Ministers from every
country in the European Union, and it remains to be seen whether our Minister
Shane Ross TD will give these changes the green light.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The European Parliament sits in Brussels in Belgium most
weeks, and then in Strasbourg in France one week in four. It is a crazy set-up,
involving huge amounts of travel. The French refuse to give up on Strasbourg,
so we all hop onto a charter train once a month to head down to Eastern France
where the hoteliers rub their hands at the prospect of hundreds of MEPs and
their staff arriving for four days. Back in Brussels, I’ve rented an apartment
about fifteen minutes by bike away from the Parliament in an area called <a href="st.gilleshttps://brussels-express.eu/hola-st-gilles-new-home/">St.Gilles</a>: it is the Brussels equivalent of Stoneybatter. Rents are cheaper than
Dublin, and there’s much more protection for tenants enshrined in law.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I’m trying not to fly over and back every week, and around
one trip in four I <a href="https://www.seat61.com/Ireland.htm">take the ferry</a> to Holyhead from Dublin Port. From there I
take a four-hour long train-ride to London Euston. Then I walk ten minutes down
the Euston Road to St. Pancras, and hop on a Eurostar for a two-hour ride to
Brussels Midi. This takes about twelve hours from door-to-door. One issue I’m
working on in Brussels is to try and ensure rail times are better scheduled and
speeds improved. In addition, we need to ensure that air travel pays its fair
share of taxes, compared to rail journeys.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Over the last six months we’ve seen the UK head closer to
Brexit, now inevitable with the Conservatives winning last week’s election. We’ll
lose our UK colleagues, but I suspect there will be renewed efforts by Scottish
nationalists to secede from the UK and rejoin the EU. Brexit brings a united
Ireland closer. A useful exercise would be to examine how policies in health,
education and policing could be coordinated north and south of the border, and
how best to address the very real concerns from northern Unionists about being
isolated. Hopefully, the Northern Ireland Assembly will reconvene early in the
new year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It has been a roller-coaster of a year. It has been amazing
to see so many greens elected around Ireland and Europe, and brilliant to see
<a href="https://twitter.com/joefingalgreen?lang=en">Joe O’Brien</a> elected as a TD in Dublin Fingal in the recent by-elections. It is
great to have my colleague Grace O’Sullivan MEP for Ireland South as a sounding
board for ideas and plans. A real personal success for me was to give my first
speech as Gaeilge in the Parliament. I couldn’t have done it with fantastic
support from my team in Brussels and Dublin. As we head towards 2020 which will
bring a General Election in Ireland, I’ll be working on progressing laws to
make the Green Deal a reality in Europe; to tackle climate change and bring
about a just transition at home, and in Europe. We'll be working closely with our Green councillors hard at work in Councils all over Ireland, and with our TDs Eamon Ryan, Catherine Martin and Joe O'Brien in the Dáil, as well as Pippa Hackett in the Seanad, and Clare Bailey and Rachel Woods, Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) </span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">in Northern Ireland. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Nollaig Shona Daoibh!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-77905574233673161082019-08-12T18:42:00.001+01:002021-11-22T09:28:07.773+00:00Summer downpours and Dublin Bay<br />
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFOdJJtX-zg8z3xrGQTXQseQ5v0TLMJrCNQbADkUsJ4ug_fPJMi7R3xfCoDA2OwBdwzqsATuhD7UE1IJG-f0JIdbQCHT48d2QeX2XYF0dFdWTIbaPNi69n8Qvj_J3lux_pEvtWw/s2048/db.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFOdJJtX-zg8z3xrGQTXQseQ5v0TLMJrCNQbADkUsJ4ug_fPJMi7R3xfCoDA2OwBdwzqsATuhD7UE1IJG-f0JIdbQCHT48d2QeX2XYF0dFdWTIbaPNi69n8Qvj_J3lux_pEvtWw/w400-h300/db.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />It's 8th August 2019, and we've had some heavy downpours in the last few days. Dublin City Council has spoken with HSE and EPA and is
saying don't swim in Dublin Bay. That's good advice. For the moment don't swim. </span>The Bay flushes out fairly quickly, so the next couple of days
should see cleaner water, but there may be more downpours on 9th August 2019, so don't
put on your togs just yet. </span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif">The current Ringsend Treatment Plant was commissioned in 2003 to
serve a population of 1.65 million. It currently treats wastewater for the
equivalent of 1.9 million people, that's 15% over-capacity. Just twenty years ago since the infamous ‘ship of shame’ <span style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; color: #444444;">MV Sir Joseph Bazalgette </span>was
taken out of service. It shipped our, eh shit to Howth. <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/dublin-s-ship-of-shame-is-to-be-scrapped-in-may-1.1257818">Here’s </a>an article by journalist Frank McDonald from 1999. Why Sir <span style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; color: #444444;">Joseph
Bazalgette? One of my Victorian heroes, here, take a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/bazalgette_joseph.shtml">read</a>… </span></span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="background: white none repeat scroll 0% 0%; color: #444444;">It's w</span></span>orth noting that the European Commission has taken an
infringement <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/ireland/news/Commission-takes-Ireland-to-Court-for-failure-to-upgrade-waste-water-treatment-infrastructure_en">case </a>against Ireland in relation to the Urban Wastewater Treatment
Directive Looking ahead, a big upgrade €400 million upgrade is on the way
for the Ringsend Sewage Treatment Plant. The plans got the green light from
Bord Pleanála back in April of this year. This means less no swim notices in the future and the works
<a href="https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/question/2018-11-06/1182/">should be completed</a> by end of 2021. A previous proposal would have involved a 9km pipeline out into
Dublin bay. That’s where I got the notion of building a <a href="https://www.broadsheet.ie/2013/0/page/800/">new island</a> with the
spoil, but I digress.</span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif">The current proposed upgrade will use a technology called Aerobic
Granular Sludge. This is a new process (invented around 2005) that gobbles up
the pollutants more quickly than the old plant. It means faster and less costly
sewage treatment. Aerobic granules are a type of sludge that can self-immobilize
flocs and microorganisms into spherical and strong compact structures. Sorry
you asked? But these type of summer downpours represent a real challenge
and can overwhelm any Sewage Plant. Will they be more likely with climate
change? I suspect so. </span></div>
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<span face="Verdana, sans-serif">We also need to separate out the storm sewers (rain water)
from the ordinary sewers (poo) as currently in the inner city they both go into
the same pipe, and that’s another challenge for @irishwater. As you can see this stuff interests me, I used to lecture in
it at @WeAreTUDublin. Want to find out more? Check out two fascinating books by
former Dublin City Council engineers Michael Corcoran and Clair Sweeney: <a href="https://www.fourcourtspress.ie/books/archives/our-good-health/">'Our Good Health' </a>and '</span><span face="Verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://irishacademicpress.ie/product/the-rivers-of-dublin-new-revised-edition/">The Rivers of Dublin</a>'.</span></div>
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<br />Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-23765649755241536792019-04-15T18:56:00.000+01:002019-04-15T18:58:35.516+01:00This is the Climate Change Election<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.3800000000000001; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Cuffe for Dublin European Election
Campaign Launch, Dublin Woollen Mills, 15th April 2019</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Friends, colleagues, welcome to the
Dublin Woollen Mills. Welcome to the North Inner City, the electoral ward that
is home to three European Parliament candidates for the Dublin constituency.
There’s clearly something in the air! Welcome to Bas Eickhout, my European
Green colleague from the Netherlands. It is an honour to have him here as a
co-author of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports. Bas has represented
the European Parliament at UN climate change conferences, and has had the ear
of Al Gore. He knows his stuff, thanks Bas.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">CLIMATE CHANGE</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is the Climate Change election.
We’ve been saying this for a while, but this time it’s getting traction. The
language we use has changed. ‘Global warming’ doesn’t capture the nature of the
crisis. ‘Climate Change’ suggests that it’s not just about warming. ‘Climate
Justice’ reminds us that those who didn’t cause the problem shouldn’t have to
pay the price. ‘Climate Breakdown’ suggest that it may be too late, and that we
must act immediately.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Last Saturday would have been the
eightieth birthday of the late Seamus Heaney. In his poem ‘Höfn’ he described
the impact of climate change. “<i>The glaciers have begun to melt. What will we
do when the ice makes its move?”</i> That’s a question that must be asked of
anyone seeking public office in 2019. What will you do? Will you spend more
money on new motorways or will you invest in public transport? Will you invest
in low-energy homes and tackle fuel poverty, or will you leave it to the market
to provide? Will you take decisive action to tackle rising emissions, or will
you propose that we put up more bird-boxes? I’ve served as Minister of State for
climate change and I know what needs to be done to tackle these issues.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Acting on climate cannot be done in
isolation. It requires joined up thinking at local, and national level, and on
the international stage. Here in Dublin as a city councillor I chaired a
climate change committee that has produced a Climate Plan for Dublin. That Plan
won’t be delivered unless the Government acts. We’ve also learned that the
Irish Government won’t act unless it is under pressure from Europe. It has been
like that since we joined the European Economic Community back in 1973. The
Union is not perfect, but the extraordinary social and environmental progress
that we’ve seen over the last 46 years here in Ireland would simply not have
happened without our membership. Show me any other part of the world where
there’s 28 democracies side-by-side. It is important that we renew the promise
of Europe. Today’s big issues don’t recognise national boundaries, and
collective action is needed at a regional levl. As we’ve learned from the
Brexit debate, we need Europe to protect smaller countries, and resist the rise
of far-right nationalism and populism.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">LOOKING TO EUROPE</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is the Climate Action election.
It’s an election where we can look to Europe for solutions from cities that work.
As an MEP I’ll act as a bridge to show Dublin what works in other places and
what can help us with a just transition here. All over the continent cities are
finding solutions to tackle emissions that improve quality of life. I want
Dublin to be known for its walkability, bikeability and liveability. Let’s look
to Germany for child-friendly cities; let’s look to Austria for quality
housing; let’s look to the Netherlands for sustainable transport and travel.
All over Europe there are solutions that can work here.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">ENERGY</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The European Parliament can do more on
energy. As Dublin’s MEP I want to legislate for a Just Transition. It’s not
going to be easy. In the energy sector we’re going to need a European supergrid
to get electricity to where it’s needed. We’re going to need community
micro-grids that will allow communities to produce and sell energy at a local
level. We’re going to need regulations that reinforces our national energy
systems, and allows households to sell their surplus energy into the network.
This needs to happen, and with more Green MEPs we can make this a reality.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">TRANSPORT</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Don’t kid yourself that Fianna Fáil and
Fine Gael have climate change sorted. They haven’t show the will to do this. A
lack of joined-up thinking will cost us dearly unless we act now. You can’t
keep building motorways and expect emissions to fall. You can’t price people
out of housing in Dublin and leave them with a three-hour daily commute. And
don’t kid yourself that electric self-driving cars will set us free. The
European Commission, the European Parliament need to know that Trans-European
Networks and technologies are not the only answer. We need to invest in
walking, cycling and public transport. Sure, we need some big projects, but we
need small local changes too. That’s why I proposed that we add one second to
pedestrian crossing times in Dublin and I’m glad to say that this is happening.
It may not change the world, but it might mean your parents will take a trip to
town, knowing that it is a bit easier to get across the road in the time
available.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">We need new transport infrastructure in
Dublin, but we also need the simple stuff. Why is it that we’ve less buses on
our streets than we did ten years ago? It’s not good enough to tell people to
take the bus or train if they’re going to be squished in like sardines. It’s
also not good enough to tell people to take the bus when driving is cheaper and
faster. I’m pleased that we offer free travel to those over 65 but let’s start
as we intend to finish, let’s make public transport free for children as well
as pensioners. Start as you intend to finish. So let’s get the right travel
patterns in place at an early age. If other countries in the European Union
can’t do this why can’t we? <b>Let’s get Europe to approve a transport package
that spends more on active travel than it does on motorways. That means in
Dublin taking cars out of Dame Street, Capel Street and George’s Street and
creating a living city with cleaner air and more space for people.</b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">HOUSING</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">This is the Just Transition election,
and the European Parliament can do more on housing. Sure, it isn’t currently a
European competence, but it should be. Globalisation has priced far too many
out of the housing market here in Dublin. There’s too much 1% money sloshing round
the globe and disrupting markets wherever it lands. It is clean money, it is
dirty money, but it is disrupting and distorting our housing supply. Combined
with Fine Gael’s belief that the market will solve this it means that we have
17,000 applicants on our housing waiting list in Dublin City alone, and
thousands of families living in hostels, hotels and homeless hubs. We had 1,400
hostel beds ten years ago, we have 1,000 more today, and we still have dozens
of homeless people who can’t find a bed. If Eoghan Murphy thinks he’d doing the
right thing I’m happy to bring up to the Phoenix Park and show him people
living in tents. I’ll bring him to Jervis Street, to the Croppies’ Acre. In my
thirty years of living in Dublin’s inner city I have never seen a homelessness
crisis of this magnitude.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Europe must help with our Housing
Crisis. DG Regio has taken a strong interest in urban and regional affairs in
recent years and I’ve carefully watched where this is heading. An EU urban
agenda can deliver sustainable cities and a low-carbon trajectory, but to do
this we need the numbers in the Parliament to put pressurise on the Commission
and Council. <b>We need a Housing package from Europe that will help us build
A-rated new homes and retrofit the homes we have to modern standards.</b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">I’m glad that the Irish Government has
finally followed the lead of cities in Spain and elsewhere and is drawing down
funds from the European Investment Bank for housing, but it’s not happening at
the scale required. Let’s look to Vienna where the City of Vienna hosted the
“Housing for All” conference last December. Cost-Rental housing is the future,
and despite the internal rows in Fine Gael between Senior and Junior Ministers
we must make it happen in Dublin.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">I’m glad that Dublin City Council has
brought the Vienna Model to Dublin, literally in this case with an exhibition
that has been to the Docklands and Ballymun and that will be in Richmond
Barracks in Inchicore all this week. Quality public housing is needed with people
on all incomes living under the same roof. It is time to end the housing
policies of exclusion, and look instead to Europe and to Vienna for inspiration
from a city that owns 220,000 homes, and where successful housing associations
are supported to tackle the crisis. In Berlin the city sold off much of its
housing and thousands are now protesting the growing financialisation of the
private rental sector.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">A Just Transition will provide the
funding for Dublin City Council to take the 24,000 homes that we provide, and
bring them from a D to an A energy rating so that our tenants aren’t trapped in
fuel poverty. A Just Transition would provide quality homes for all, not just
for short-stay tourists in AirBnBs and hotels, or the affluent in new student housing.
A Just Transition would mandate the Land Development Agency to build on
brownfield sites like Broadstone, and provide most of these homes as
mixed-income public housing, rather than investment targets for vulture or
cuckoo funds. 40% affordable is far too low a bar for these sites.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">WIDER WORLD</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Irish Naval Service has carried out
extraordinary work in humanitarian rescues in the Mediterranean. But this
migration crisis is part of a wider global trend, and we cannot retreat from
commitments to the Global South. Irish Aid must continue to align our
commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals. We must gender-proof our aid
to ensure that women and girls are protected. Let’s look to the pioneering work
of Mary Robinson in seeking climate justice for the least-well-off who will
suffer most in a world of climate breakdown.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Let’s ensure that those who come to
Ireland seeking refugee status aren’t left living in the shameful direct
provision system. Cases should not drag on for years and if that means
simplifying and strengthening EU or Irish Law then let’s deliver on this. Let’s
ensure we accept our fair share of those fleeing persecution, and ensure that
integration is at the heart of our policies.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Let’s also ensure that the EU’s foreign
policy is geared towards sustainable development, rather than a European Army.
Let’s ensure our defence forces have the equipment they need to deliver on
humanitarian aid and peacekeeping. Let’s ensure they’re not paid low wages
compared to other sectors of the economy. However, let’s not be sucked into
defence spending under pressure from other member States that destroys our
commitments to Irish Neutrality.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Let’s ensure that our close links to
the UK continue regardless of the outcomes on Brexit. Those economic ties and
cultural ties are crucial to our future. Now is the time to ensure that student
exchanges such as Erasmus are kept in place to provide opportunities to study
in the UK and for those across the water to study here. We need these
commitments because they are part of the spirit of Europe regardless of the
decisions made in Westminster. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">DIGITAL FUTURES</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Our digital world, just like climate
change, does not recognise national borders. As our digital world expands we
need to ensure that large companies do not have undue influence, I stand with
Senator Elizabeth Warren from the United States when she says that monopolies
should be broken up. It is wrong that three companies: Facebook, Amazon and
Amazon dominate so much of the digital landscape. They have become virtual
monopolies in their sector. We know that WeChat controls communications in
China, we cannot let this happen in Europe.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The digital economy had given many
benefits, but we need greater transparency on costs and profits, and a more
level playing field for the major global companies in today’s global world. The
rules of the game must reflect the subsidies and tax breaks given to companies
elsewhere in Europe, and Ireland’s position as a peripheral Member State.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">I stand with the European Greens when
they campaign for Net neutrality, and protect whistle-blowers when they reveal
the actions of Government and companies that needs exposure. I stand with
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager when she pursues </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Google/Alphabet and others over the alleged antitrust violations</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">CITIES</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Cities can move quickly on climate
change. I’ve spent the last eighteen months studying for a Masters in Cities at
the London School of Economics, and I know that cities can unlock a low-carbon
future. My final project looked at ‘Decarbonising Dublin’ and I’m convinced
that the solutions to tackling climate change can be found here. They can be
found in policies that promote walking and cycling, from Brussels to the Liffey
Quays. They can be found in District Heating using the heat from the
Ringsend Incinerator and electricity generation. They can be found in policies
that promote biodiversity, and in green and blue technologies that cope with
extreme weather, and provide space for children to play. They can be found in
improving air quality through low emission zones and reducing the incidence of
asthma. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">However, cities must also foster
democracy. The gradual stripping away of powers from local government in
Ireland leaves us as an outlier compared to other European Countries. We need
to give our cities greater control over transport, over waste and over housing.
Our lack of powers and the constraints on spending have left us incapable of
responding quickly to climate change, the housing crisis, traffic congestion
and other key issues. It is time for a directly elected mayor for Dublin with a
remit to tackle these challenges and provide the vision for Dublin’s future.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">It is wrong that our plans for public
housing to require sign-off four times by Eoghan Murphy before we get the green
light to build. It is wrong that Minister Shane Ross has dictated that there
are less buses on our streets than ten years ago. It is wrong that there are
over fifty different agencies with responsibility for transport in Greater
Dublin. Dublin needs a directly-elected Mayor.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">FINAL</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The extraordinary young leader Greta
Thunberg has shown us that speaking truth to power works. She’s speaking to the
Environment Committee of the European Parliament tomorrow despite the efforts
of the EPP and others to deny her a voice in the main chamber. She inspired the
ten thousand school children here in Ireland who gathered outside Dáil Éireann
to demand climate justice and a fair transition, and they won’t be going away.
In his poem ‘Lies’ the Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko wrote: “<i>Lying to the
young is wrong...Telling them that God’s in his heaven and all’s well with the
world is wrong...Our pupils will not forgive in us what we forgave</i>.”</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Greta Thunberg has shown that the young
are not complacent. She has shown us that the young can separate truth from
spin. She wants us to act, and we must act now.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The Citizens Assembly has told us that
it wants us to act. However, it is about more than bird boxes and keep cups.
It’s about clean energy, and A-rated homes. It’s about buses, trains and trams
that aren’t packed to the gills, but are reliable, comfortable and affordable
ways to get around. It’s about a child-friendly city with clean air to breathe
and clear waters in Dublin Bay.<b>Let’s ramp up action under the Water
Directive so that the Liffey, the Dodder and the Tolka and our canals, even in
the Docklands are clean enough to swim in. </b> It’s about a green city
with trees for kids to climb, and parks a short walk from your door. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">I’ve campaigned to make Dublin a better
place for some time, I’m proud of my city and the changes that we’ve achieved,
I want to work with our neighbours in Europe to deliver the climate action, the
housing, the mobility improvements that will deliver a Living City for all.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">I’m asking you to Vote Dublin, Vote
Climate, Vote Green, Vote Cuffe on the 24th May.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">ENDS</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-56166817404165499962019-03-03T12:23:00.002+00:002019-03-03T20:56:56.031+00:00That meeting with Dublin Bus<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhc_866NpleqPXUgJtNOIXazCQSIWXjYTuQ8ny4PH5s92R72K6xXZtKE2PCj4UnT75kxaeB-wDqxcQAKwDIO_Qi68N0J_J0ASxOi8mPnN-DPc72UcoiKAxOuhslC6yUaH3BetWnQ/s1600/Dublin+Bus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhc_866NpleqPXUgJtNOIXazCQSIWXjYTuQ8ny4PH5s92R72K6xXZtKE2PCj4UnT75kxaeB-wDqxcQAKwDIO_Qi68N0J_J0ASxOi8mPnN-DPc72UcoiKAxOuhslC6yUaH3BetWnQ/s400/Dublin+Bus.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">So, when I tweeted “</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Any questions you'd like me to ask?”, I wasn’t
quite prepared for the deluge that filled my Twitter feed! I put a few of your
questions to </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Ciarán Rogan the Head of Commercial and
Business Development in Dublin Bus on Friday morning,</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> and at the end of this post I’ve tried to
summarise the issues you put to me under various headings. Before I do that,
let me give you a quick ‘Dublin Transport 101’ paragraph.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Dublin Bus is a
semi-state organisation. This means that it operates a bit like a private
company, and in some respects, operates at arm’s length from Government. This
means that when things go wrong Minister Ross can say “nothing to do with me”,
but when they go right he can claim the credit. A huge amount of what Dublin
Bus does is controlled by the National Transport Authority (NTA), which is in
turn controlled by Minister Ross. New buses? Ask the NTA for the money. New
routes? That’s a matter for the NTA. BusConnects? NTA. You get the picture. So,
with that out of the way I'll address a few of the specifics that you raised.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Bus fleet</span></u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimONLwx2Gajj_muK7skonpo4yPColY25IGJq4PhHQzdHuuoESdojYfYtFkH1L6F5oouHP8K3r85MKJ4ApyO0pqvwfXI0GUioqi3OmeqrYbaSVqiyrxyqSUKf6JeqFSy8_LVxXLbg/s1600/Dublin+Bus+engines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="863" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimONLwx2Gajj_muK7skonpo4yPColY25IGJq4PhHQzdHuuoESdojYfYtFkH1L6F5oouHP8K3r85MKJ4ApyO0pqvwfXI0GUioqi3OmeqrYbaSVqiyrxyqSUKf6JeqFSy8_LVxXLbg/s320/Dublin+Bus+engines.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Why no electric
buses, or even hybrids? Good question, especially since hybrids were piloted,
oh, ten years ago. Your tweets mentioned LA, Madrid, and of course transport
nerds like myself talk a lot about Shenzhen in China which has a <a href="https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/2169709/shenzhens-all-electric-bus-fleet-worlds-first-comes-massive">fleet </a>of
16,000 e-buses. Mr. Rogan told me that nine hybrid buses are on order, and
three will be in service by the end of the month. That’s no great shakes
compared to London, which has 3,240 hybrid buses in service, but I guess
neither the Government nor Shane Ross have been losing sleep over this. This
means that diesel is here to stay sadly, for at least the next decade, though
at least the Euro 6 (emission rating) buses are much cleaner than their
predecessors. Around half the fleet is Euro 6 at this stage. I felt it was bad form though for the NTA/Dublin Bus order a load
of them though, just before the diesel ban kicked in from Government.
Bus Connects talks about this <a href="https://www.busconnects.ie/initiatives/cleaner-technology/">here </a></span></div>
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<span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Roads tend to get
the lion’s share of transport funding in Ireland, and even though buses bring
in 40% of the shoppers to Dublin’s city centre, public transport (and walking
and cycling) have always been the poor relation in transport funding. In
your replies to me you said you want to see more buses (the fleet is no bigger
than twenty years ago), better heating, and more space for wheelchairs. No harm
to email Shane Ross (</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="mailto:shane.ross@oireachtas.ie"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #1155cc;">shane.ross@oireachtas.ie</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">) and ask him for these. I agree, and would love to
see it happen. Shaun (</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Retzback_Shaun"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">@Retzback_Shaun</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">) said bring back the green buses. I agree! Sadly,
this doesn’t seem to be on the cards.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Leap cards and ticketing</span></u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Lots of issues were raised around
issues with Leap cards. Some of you want the central doors as exit only, others
want a card reader at the centre doors. Sylvia Bowe (</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/sylviabowe"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@sylviabowe</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">) wants a “swipe on, swipe off” system. A pet hate was the card reader
on the right-hand side as you enter, which is intended for annual or monthly
tickets etc, but which happily takes the maximum fare off your Leap card if you
make the mistake of swiping at it. A sensible suggestion from Andrew
McCarthy (</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/A_Mc_Carthy"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@A_Mc_Carthy</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">) was that it should only extract the maximum fare to the terminus.
There’s lots of technical issues here which I’ll ask Mr. Rogan to respond to in
detail. Looking ahead we’ll probably move to the London system which can swipe
your bank card, so you don’t even need an Oyster card (the equivalent of a Leap
card) there. I know the NTA are also moving towards a 90 minute far that allows
you to transfer for around €2.30. It is still damn expensive, and in the Green
Party we are saying that we should move towards free student travel, or even
free child travel. I got my Dáil colleague Catherine Martin TD to ask how much
this would cost, and she was told it would cost €35m per year for free child
travel nationwide (though this doesn’t account for any increased usage). A
reasonable step to take would be make public transport free for accompanied
under 12s on Dublin Bus services on Saturdays for a trial period and see how it
works out. Certainly, for young families the return bus fare for two adults and
a few children going in and out of town costs a lot more than city centre car
parking, so it is worth considering for lots of reasons.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Bus Lane enforcement</span></u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">This came up in so many of your tweets.
People want to see </span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">bus lane
enforcement cameras mounted on the Dublin Bus fleet, and they do too. Trouble
is the legislation doesn’t exist to do this apparently. Again, this is a matter
for Shane Ross, so do drop him a note people. The city Council and the Gardaí
should be stepping up enforcement, and I’ve been calling for this. The Council
is in the middle of a complicated tendering process for parking enforcement
that’s almost completed and I’ve asked for illegal parking on footpaths, bike
lanes and bus lanes to be prioritised. Mind you, there’s nothing to stop the
Guards doing more of this now ‘cough’ (@GardaTraffic)</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The App</span></u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">We had a good chat
about the Dublin Bus App. Apparently there is a rebuild of this underway and it
should be back on Android by the end of March, (perhaps on the Apple Store
already?) The problem has been GDPR, though it does seem like GDPR is the new
Health and Safety. There was a nice suggestion from </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/oceanclub"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">@oceanclub</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> that
the App show buses in real time on a map. Now that would be an elegant upgrade,
but it doesn’t seem to be on the cards. Stephen Murphy (</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/stejmurphy"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@stejmurphy</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">) felt the real time data at bus stops and the data
in </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/TFIupdates"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #0084b4;">@TFIupdates</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> and</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/dublinbusnews"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a;"> </span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #0084b4;">@dublinbusnews</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> app are pooling from different sources. Ciaran
Rogan didn’t feel this was the case, but if you’ve evidence of this maybe you’d
send it on to me. Diarmuid Nanney (</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/HanneyDP"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@HanneyDP</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> ) </span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">asked that
the </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Dublin Bus data files be uploaded as
open source files. I assume that they are done like that and accessible on the
NTA data store, but perhaps the techies out there can tell me more. Certainly,
there’s room for snazzier third-party Apps. CityMapper, come to Dublin, please!</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Driver issues</span></u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">I feel bus drivers have become more
respectful of cyclists, but of course there are loads of incidents that you
know of where this is not the case. If you haven’t seen the Dublin Bus driver
training video from a year or two back, have a look at it <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ABecwtLmUI">here</a>. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Lots of you want to get bus drivers out on bikes as part of their
training. I think that’s a great idea, and is used in other cities, and maybe
should be integrated in to driver training here. Of course, a lot of
drivers are cyclists, and do have experience of the view over the handlebars.
The issue of drivers leaving the engine running came up from Melissa
O’Callaghan (</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/melissaocallag1"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@melissaocallag1</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">). If this an issue they can put signs at the bus stop advising drivers
to switch off. We have them on Infirmary Road at the 46A terminus, so I’m sure
it can be arranged for other places. Some of you were concerned at drivers
being aggressive or using their horn inappropriately.</span></div>
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<u><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Smaller Route changes</span></u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Lots of local issues came up here. The
new #155 will serve Ballymun, but brings yet another bus service through
O’Connell Street rather than the Quays. It strikes me that there’s a ‘homing
instinct’ at play here. Aoife McEoin (</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/AoifeMacE"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">@AoifeMacE</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">) wants the
#7 and #7A to serve Mountjoy Square in the evenings; Graham Finlay (</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/graham_finlay"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@graham_finlay</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">) wants a better UCD service in the evening; Paula Nolan (@IrishPTnolan)
want some buses (from Fairview I assume,) to go straight to the Docklands /
Merrion Square rather than go through town. </span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">@Leo31084416 wondered whether we could make tweaks
to routes in advance of Bus Connects. Yep, this is happening. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">John Cuffe (@</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/cuffejohn"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">cuffejohn</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">)no relation I think, says the #270 from Blanchardstown to Dunboyne
is a rather, eh, poor service. Robbie Moran (</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/robbimoran"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@robbimoran</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">) wants better express services from beyond the M50 and I strongly
agree. Interestingly I asked about the overlap of Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann services.
Dublin Bus is mandated to serve the “County of Dublin and contiguous areas.” I
suspect that more could be done to serve those communities that lie in the no-man’s
land beyond the four Dublin counties that isn’t adequately served privately or
by Bus Éireann.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Bus Connects</span></u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The big route changes will come out of
the BusConnects </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black;">project which</span><span style="color: black;"> is being managed by the </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIX8fo14Q_s0leEx6KcMOfQc-IaoKxyX2UsXKhzaHxUQmPwMXhp20ki3mirWXFTPHRnWvvGOpI1Ptyuf-ebSpI2RTS0IxGpQSylaVXUlWOLVM9cRzeOfqC47I7rwm5_kvtSkJrag/s1600/Bus+Network+2027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="859" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIX8fo14Q_s0leEx6KcMOfQc-IaoKxyX2UsXKhzaHxUQmPwMXhp20ki3mirWXFTPHRnWvvGOpI1Ptyuf-ebSpI2RTS0IxGpQSylaVXUlWOLVM9cRzeOfqC47I7rwm5_kvtSkJrag/s400/Bus+Network+2027.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">NTA, with help from the
US based consultant Jarett Walker. Liz Kerrins (<a href="https://twitter.com/LKerrins"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">@LKerrins</span></a><span style="color: black;">) wa</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">nted the
proposals to be more legible as does </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Geschenk_Korb"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@Geschenk_Korb</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">. I couldn’t agree more. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Sinabhfuil"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">@Sinabhfuil</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> is
concerned about the diversion of cars on to Clareville Road in Kimmage, and
wants to see Park and Ride now. Grainne Hassett (</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/GrainneHassett"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@GrainneHassett</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">) is worried about the destruction of Grattan Crescent in Inchicore. An
interesting suggestion was made by </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/transportdublin"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@transportdublin</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> that </span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Dublin Bus should
ask passengers to contact local representatives to support the infrastructure
part of </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/BusConnects"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #0084b4;">@BusConnects</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">. That isn’t a bad idea. Certainly, Dublin Bus spend a lot of time
talking to elected representatives, particularly at national level, but it
might be no harm if they urged their passengers to make their views known on
the project. Keith Guinan (</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/keithguinan"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@keithguinan</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">) doesn’t wish to change at Swords on way into town from Skerries.
Hopefully that can be tweaked. Again, the NTA is managing Bus Connects, so
Dublin Bus doesn’t call the shots on this one. Consultation is open till the
end of March on some routes, and longer on others. Do make a submission via </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.busconnects.ie/"><span style="color: #1155cc; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">www.BusConnects.ie</span></a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><u>General Issues</u></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Roger Hobkinson (</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/RoghobC"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@RoghobC</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">) said “</span><i><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Sell of their high
value bus garages for residential and relocate to fewer large bus stations in a
ring around M50 and one city garage in glass bottle area. Invest proceeds in
better international standard services</span></i><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">.” Well I couldn’t agree more, and have been banging this drum for
years, but that requires action from Minister Shane Ross and his Fine Gael
colleagues. Another issue </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/DublinCommuters"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@DublinCommuters</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/AGingerxyz"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@AGingerxyz</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">) </span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">was drivers
asking people with disabilities to state their disability. That is all wrong,
and I’ll take that issue up with the company in writing. Lots of people hate
the webform, and want a more specific reply to their query or complaints, over
to you @DublinBusNews on that one. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/OhDunnoWho"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@OhDunnoWho</span></a></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> wanted to see the use of Irish dropped from announcements. Can’t agree
with you on this! Better maps were sought by several people. I agree. TfL in
London do an amazing job with clear maps at bus stops, and we should follow
their lead. 24 hour services? Funnily enough, the NTA announced this last year but it never happened. Ciaran said it will happen, and perhaps this year. Nightlink is great, but that's only a Friday/Saturday service, We badly need hourly services through the night on key routes. Hopefully this will happen with the 747 from Heuston to Dublin Airport this year, and on a few other key routes to the south and west.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">We only had 45 minutes to chat, but I
got the feeling that Ciaran Rogan wants to do more, but is constrained by
finance and the day-to-day demands of his job in going further. There’s so many
issues to address. He rides a bike to work several days a week, as do many of
his colleagues. I think Dublin Bus are improving, but with a bit more support
from government, and Minister Ross they could do so much more. I’ll update this
post if I get more information from Dublin Bus, and I’ve summarised most of the
issues that you mentioned to me below. Thanks again for all your replies.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">***</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><u><i>Here's a summary of the queries received from Twitter</i></u></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">General</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-where’s the accountability </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;"><a href="https://twitter.com/sorleymccaughey">@sorleymccaughey</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-too many empty buses parked in town </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/dubshn1028"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@dubshn1028</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">disaster at Hawkins st and Pearse Street </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/dubshn1028"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@dubshn1028</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-is there an alternative to Webform if
blocked </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/garretbaldwin"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@garretbaldwin</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-stop asking people with disabilities
to state disability </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/DublinCommuters"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@DublinCommuters</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/AGingerxyz"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@AGingerxyz</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">sell bus garages for residential relocate to M50
Invest proceeds in services </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/RoghobC"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@RoghobC</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-better maps at bus stops ect. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/chewborg"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@chewborg</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">turn down volume of 'next stop' announcements and drop Irish </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/OhDunnoWho"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@OhDunnoWho</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">respond to questions/complaints about customer service ever </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;"><a href="https://twitter.com/graham_finlay">@graham_finlay</a></span></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></u></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Routes</span></u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-#DB7 #DB7A to serve Mountjoy Square
after 6pm </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/AoifeMacE"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@AoifeMacE</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-can some routes avoid city centre to
serve Merrion Square /Leeson Street @IrishPTnolan</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-new #DB155 from Ballymun. Via Quays,
or O’Connell Street </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/highnellybike"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@highnellybike</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-any chance of a 24h service to
airport, maybe #DB747 from Heuston </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/An_Puifin"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@An_Puifin</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Why on the #DB46a route at 745am there’s a dearth of buses city bound </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Ellebelles1"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@Ellebelles1</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">any plans for demand responsive bus service trials </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://t.co/wL5YetchXI"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #1155cc;">https://t.co/wL5YetchXI</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/HanneyDP"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@HanneyDP</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">-Constant
“Operational Issues” (bus doesn’t show up) with</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DB120?src=hash"><span style="background: rgb(245 , 248 , 250); color: #14171a;"> </span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #0084b4;">#DB120</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/rathborneD15"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@rathborneD15</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Could Dublin Bus start tweaking routes now in advance of bus connects
@Leo31084416</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">-24h routes </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ROnanJDonnelly"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@ROnanJDonnelly</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">-please serve UCD
in the evenings </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/graham_finlay"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@graham_finlay</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">how come #DB270 Dunboyne to Blanch bus is such a *** service? </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/cuffejohn"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@cuffejohn</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">non stop services for people outside M50 </span><a href="https://twitter.com/robbimoran" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">@robbimoran</a></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span></u></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Buses</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-some buses date from 2006, replace
them 2006 Lorraine_F_22</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-electrify the fleet </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/BrianLeddin"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@BrianLeddin</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-overcrowding, any plans to expand
fleet </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/OdranReid"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@OdranReid</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-fleet same size as 1998, can it be
expanded </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/garrettmullan"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@garrettmullan</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-who so slow to electrify fleet </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ruairimckiernan"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@ruairimckiernan</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-when will you move away from fosil
fuels, wy is electric non-viable </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/lordgoat"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@lordgoat</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-Madrid has electric buses </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/niscratz"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@niscratz</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-progress to zero carbon and
Electric/non-fossil-fueled vehicles </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/AJffGemini13"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@AJffGemini13</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-do something about buggy-pushers who
refuse to vacate wheelchair space </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Amran_Alix"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@Amran_Alix</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-bring back green buses </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Retzback_Shaun"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@Retzback_Shaun</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-poor/non-existant heating on buses </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Gion_Gion"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@Gion_Gion</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-go electric, look at LA </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/johncoleman1979"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@johncoleman1979</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-bigger buses please </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/MulfreeS"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@MulfreeS</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-go carbon neutral </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/connollc"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@connollc</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Leapcards / ticketing</span></u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-tag on at central doors @MarcKC_Green</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-how much extra money taken by tagging
on RHS reader for full fare </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/johnlync"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@johnlync</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-can RHS reader only charge to reminus,
not maximum fare </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/A_Mc_Carthy"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@A_Mc_Carthy</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-why is Leap card reader sloped, card
slides off </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/IrishPTNolan"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@IrishPTNolan</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-can ticketing be integrated with Luas </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/eoinyk"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@eoinyk</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-why not “swipe on, swipe off” </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/sylviabowe"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@sylviabowe</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">commuters getting #DB145 to Heuston with annual ticket can't jump on any
bus down quays </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/noelbodie"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@noelbodie</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">multi door entry with tap on/off leap card points </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ROnanJDonnelly"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@ROnanJDonnelly</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Bus Lane enforcement</span></u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-can they get Gardaí to keep cars out
of bus lanes </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/tomasbradley"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@tomasbradley</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-can bus lane hours be increased </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/snerad"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@snerad</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-can they calculate delays caused by
illegal parking in bus lanes </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ShaneHoganD16"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@ShaneHoganD16</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">bus lane enforcement cameras, yellow box cameras etc ASAP
@transportdublin</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">-onboard cameras
as a means to record and fine illegal parkers? </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/dnoting"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@dnoting</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">on-board</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CCTV?src=hash"><span style="background: rgb(245 , 248 , 250); color: #14171a;"> </span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #0084b4;">#CCTV</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> to help enforce against illegal vehicle-use </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphy201"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@ChrisMurphy201</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">App</span></u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-Can App show buses in real time on map
</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/oceanclub"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@oceanclub</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-no support for App </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/InkingCap"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@InkingCap</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-what happened App </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/oceanclub"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@oceanclub</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-is App now on Transport for Ireland
Real Time app </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/LoKapila"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@LoKapila</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-can Dublin Bus data files be uploaded
as open source files </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/HanneyDP"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@HanneyDP</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">why is the real time data at bus stops data
in </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/TFIupdates"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #0084b4;">@TFIupdates</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> and</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/dublinbusnews"><span style="background: rgb(245 , 248 , 250); color: #14171a;"> </span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #0084b4;">@dublinbusnews</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> app pooling from different sources </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/stejmurphy"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a;"> </span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@stejmurphy</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Driver issues</span></u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-get drivers on to bikes </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/DublinVelo2019"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@DublinVelo2019</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> @davidhealyv</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-can insights from bus drivers who
cycle be used to improve driver behaviour </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/rothairisbeoir"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@rothairisbeoir</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-can bus drivers keep to speed limits,
esp. 30 km/h </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/thebaz_dublin"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@thebaz_dublin</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ccferrie"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@ccferrie</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/conorkearney"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@conorkearney</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">running amber and red lights; exceeding the speed limit; carrying out
dangerous manouevres; aggressive driving behaviour towards vulnerable road
users </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/clicky_here"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@clicky_here</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">monitor/audit on board cameras to detect (bus driver) red light
running </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ConwayDavid"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@ConwayDavid</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-drivers using horns at cyclists </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/IsMiseNessy"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@IsMiseNessy</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-keep buses out of narrow stretch of
North Brunsick Street at Walsh’s pub </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/jnrbaker"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@jnrbaker</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-can front doors be entrance only,
centre doors for exit </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/edbrophy"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@edbrophy</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Sam_Fitzgerald7"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@Sam_Fitzgerald7</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">-not always
possible at bus stops blocked by illegally parked vehicles </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/myDublinbus"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@myDublinbus</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/myDublinbus/status/1101400586006740992"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">Mar 1</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-respect bikes </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/jtwoods_bikes"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@jtwoods_bikes</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-driver agression </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/IpaziaCheyenne"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@IpaziaCheyenne</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">-ensure drivers
are more accountable and protect cyclists </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/stevedocherty"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@stevedocherty</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Why are buses parked up (thinking near clontarf Castle) with their
engines idling? </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/melissaocallag1"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;">@melissaocallag1</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Bus Connects</span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-make the proposals more legible </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/LKerrins"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@LKerrins </span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-wrong way round, should be macro to
micro </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/SNicoullaud"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@SNicoullaud</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-diversion of cars on to
Clareville Road in Kimmage </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Sinabhfuil"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@Sinabhfuil</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-destructiojn of Grattan Crescent,
Inchicore </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/GrainneHassett"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@GrainneHassett</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-why not Park and Ride now, rather than
after key corridors are in operation </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Sinabhfuil"><span style="color: black; text-decoration-line: none;">@Sinabhfuil</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Can Dublin Bus ask passengers to contact local representatives to
support the infrastructure part of </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/BusConnects"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #0084b4;">@BusConnects</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/transportdublin"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@transportdublin</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-don’t wish to change at Swords on way
into town from Skerries </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/keithguinan"><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786;">@keithguinan</span></a></span><span style="background: #f5f8fa; color: #657786; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">-</span><span style="background: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Make the bus plans easier to understand </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;"><span style="background: white; color: #657786;"><a href="https://twitter.com/Geschenk_Korb">@Geschenk_Korb</a></span></span></div>
Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-61484932888657062032019-02-05T17:51:00.000+00:002019-02-05T17:51:59.171+00:00An update on Dublin's water<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjerQGQC8v1Ioj-lgmMOjC1p6O9oaRWmoIeBMteYLkDd1FD1C1oI8rScufDUenZ-jJC6f_sMrxTDlVwcZoZAZuKnjAWLtTzNz4j4qyjBNYlGF6VSZl8OlqOUUZ4aHJL8PjZg6YQnw/s1600/1+Water+20190204_131035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjerQGQC8v1Ioj-lgmMOjC1p6O9oaRWmoIeBMteYLkDd1FD1C1oI8rScufDUenZ-jJC6f_sMrxTDlVwcZoZAZuKnjAWLtTzNz4j4qyjBNYlGF6VSZl8OlqOUUZ4aHJL8PjZg6YQnw/s320/1+Water+20190204_131035.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Took a trip to Wicklow yesterday for the opening of a water pipe, a €30m water pipe at Roundwood Reservoir. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of my heroes in the world of water is Sir John Grey. He has a statue on O'Connell Street, and this one here at Roundwood. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzlmMrWKzZBqrLmQJ0E1wRdBCE5u2XO1n03_mA6ZnXed0jsgRY06tNW6QH5q0n786Aq9Gcs7k0_gPe-ByngedGGhYWiS1dfbqnNLFzwUnDiBiG8-U6p2Xlmmpwnz43uhyV6TCH6A/s1600/2+Gray+20190204_124225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzlmMrWKzZBqrLmQJ0E1wRdBCE5u2XO1n03_mA6ZnXed0jsgRY06tNW6QH5q0n786Aq9Gcs7k0_gPe-ByngedGGhYWiS1dfbqnNLFzwUnDiBiG8-U6p2Xlmmpwnz43uhyV6TCH6A/s320/2+Gray+20190204_124225.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He chaired Dublin Corporation's Drainage Committee in the 1860s, and knowing a reservoir would be needed in Wicklow he bought the lands in advance, and then sold them back to the city at cost to avoid speculation, a man of honour.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He also owned the Freeman's Journal, trained as a physician and was a Protestant Nationalist who sought the repeal of the Act of Union.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fun Fact: his grandson <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Dwyer-Gray">Edmund John Chisholm Dwyer-Gray</a> was 29th Premier of Tasmania in the 1930s.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Prior to Roundwood Reservoir's completion the Blessington Basin supplied water </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">from 1814</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">to Dubliners, as well as the Jameson Distillery, but as Dublin expanded more water was needed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's a picture at the </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Blessington Basin in Dublin's North Inner City </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">with my @</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">WeAreTUDublin students of environment and planning</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpZYcHyDtK-jESNaKaDgBPuOVB9mN8AJ_C2O7WBmBKH1Zq8xTt7lsw2izkvPAcbOU1Xslxr-inSZ0GMuqo4PixWYLn9fhd1rWY12H6zbPAF6O1WDQ2W8PHbWDrqKnHMsGueyKE1A/s1600/7+Blessington+20160920_104451.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpZYcHyDtK-jESNaKaDgBPuOVB9mN8AJ_C2O7WBmBKH1Zq8xTt7lsw2izkvPAcbOU1Xslxr-inSZ0GMuqo4PixWYLn9fhd1rWY12H6zbPAF6O1WDQ2W8PHbWDrqKnHMsGueyKE1A/s320/7+Blessington+20160920_104451.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In James Joyce’s Ulysses Leopold Bloom turns the tap to prepare a cup of cocoa for Stephan Dedalus. He makes the mistake of asking “Did it flow?” Bloom <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265717563_'Vartryville_Dublin's_Water_Supply_and_Joyce's_Sublation_of_Local_Government'">describes </a>the entire Vartry scheme in his reply. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Members of the Dublin Corporation enjoyed a picnic during their inspection of the Vartry waterworks in 1892. £51 16s 8d was spent, including luncheon and refreshments: a dozen bottles of Chateau Margaux, a dozen bottles of fine old Dublin whiskey and a box of cigars. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyYWvreGGRqyNpdawjQ8ssb0yvvCTOli2jEtKFFh_Z9zP3iqE7bO9hVWxy7mQ6p46sBZdQfyREn2qDPTtvAd_M9mQR4jD1aeIQAdRRi2s60eQ2rM5E_0PEwArPVonAm3ojTO7GQ/s1600/9+Inspection+20190205_153112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="1600" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglyYWvreGGRqyNpdawjQ8ssb0yvvCTOli2jEtKFFh_Z9zP3iqE7bO9hVWxy7mQ6p46sBZdQfyREn2qDPTtvAd_M9mQR4jD1aeIQAdRRi2s60eQ2rM5E_0PEwArPVonAm3ojTO7GQ/s320/9+Inspection+20190205_153112.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thankfully the local government auditor disallowed this expenditure and the Lord Chief Justice affirmed his decision. (on yesterday's trip Irish Water gave us tea and scones.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In 1923 Alderman Staines and his colleagues from the Corporation headed down to Roundwood for an extension of the waterworks. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ6Sup0_1YA&feature=youtu.be">This </a>wonderful black and white Pathé film shows Dublin's flag being raised at the dam.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yesterday marked the <a href="https://www.water.ie/projects-plans/vartry/">opening </a>of a new €30m pipe and pumping station to replace the Vartry to Callowhill Link tunnel which was in danger of collapse after 150 years of use. Hopefully the old tunnel can now be rehabilitated to spare us the cost of pumping. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There's other works in progress at Roundwood, including new slow filter beds where the water is cleaned by trickling down through fine layers of sand. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Q5sHslFpA6LDvo2BjuYN0bNVII4EJWDStWkgTAP8bXH2Gz5amHlJ9wSo9uhWVYxbGR-nXb-ZPoVQcbAVOvJynwbiCE3WTSIW79GTHUjbQyQDrCTwP83vbN18nBEmI0JmBbJK0Q/s1600/14+sand+filters+20190204_124730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Q5sHslFpA6LDvo2BjuYN0bNVII4EJWDStWkgTAP8bXH2Gz5amHlJ9wSo9uhWVYxbGR-nXb-ZPoVQcbAVOvJynwbiCE3WTSIW79GTHUjbQyQDrCTwP83vbN18nBEmI0JmBbJK0Q/s320/14+sand+filters+20190204_124730.jpg" width="180" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Climate change may be reducing output as Summer droughts mean less water, and alga growth that reduce the filter capacity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We've also got to ensure we maintain flow to the River Vartry that keeps Mount Usher gardens and farms supplied with water.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you're interested in finding out more look out for Michael Corcoran's book 'Our Good Health' which maps out the 100 year history of Dublin's water supply. Here's a <a href="https://www.engineersireland.ie/EngineersIreland/media/SiteMedia/groups/societies/heritage/Water,-Drainage,-People-and-Heritage.pdf?ext=.pdf">paper </a>he gave a few years ago to Engineers Ireland.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I <a href="http://www.ciarancuffe.com/greens-welcome-vartry-water-pipeline-call-for-conservation-measures/">welcomed </a>the launch, but said we must focus more efforts on water harvesting and conservation, as a new water supply from the Shannon will cost over a billion Euro , and use a lot of energy for pumping. Here's my few words...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's a <a href="https://www.water.ie/news/new-pipeline-vartry-to-ca/">link </a>to Irish Water's information on yesterday's launch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And finally thanks to Ned
Fleming, the engineer and waterworks superintendent who gave me a fantastic
tour of the waterworks and the old valve rooms at Roundwood. Much appreciated!</span><br />
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<br />Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-75915557385303089172018-12-28T19:10:00.000+00:002018-12-29T10:57:02.770+00:00Quality Housing? Let's look to Vienna<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeUZkn0293Qdhed_u2-0DXybNhVrV4HoEhkzTYKAr5_DL1iq9CVjR-u3MpWX71g-miQej5vBQGlkp2AOJ8w7XqFydWMQjky87WCY-GC-XLwsQQZd7AHQvGTiXREPmutNfLF8RtA/s1600/Gasometer+20181204_153028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1600" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeUZkn0293Qdhed_u2-0DXybNhVrV4HoEhkzTYKAr5_DL1iq9CVjR-u3MpWX71g-miQej5vBQGlkp2AOJ8w7XqFydWMQjky87WCY-GC-XLwsQQZd7AHQvGTiXREPmutNfLF8RtA/s640/Gasometer+20181204_153028.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Quality housing? Dublin can learn a lot from Vienna in providing decent well-designed housing at rents people can afford. They’ve being doing this well since 1919 and before, and they’re proud of what they do. That’s why earlier this month they invited decision-makers from around the world to find out more about the ‘Viennese Model’ at the ‘Housing for All’ <a href="https://housing-for-all.eu/">Conference </a>in Austria.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You'll hear more about housing in Vienna in 2019. Dublin City Council's Head of Housing Policy Research and Development Daithí Downey has ensured that an <a href="http://www.vienna-model.at/en/ausstellung/">exhibition</a> that featured as a side-event at the conference will come to Dublin this Spring. It will showcase good examples from Vienna of new and refurbished public housing. Most of Vienna’s inhabitants live in subsidised dwellings, and the city itself owns 220,000 homes.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_qYwiza1fKZL4eS7cWsGdFDeRGyJ5uUTKEoon8LXlg0xGk7MBvVEcKfZQorg0NdD8a1z4_5DZSXaFXaLpnbUKTmi_GXoWfPWD57zza32LMNYJKFFi5_JabbnrYvO8Kzcsfy0F9A/s1600/Vienna+Housing+20181205_114307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_qYwiza1fKZL4eS7cWsGdFDeRGyJ5uUTKEoon8LXlg0xGk7MBvVEcKfZQorg0NdD8a1z4_5DZSXaFXaLpnbUKTmi_GXoWfPWD57zza32LMNYJKFFi5_JabbnrYvO8Kzcsfy0F9A/s400/Vienna+Housing+20181205_114307.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Kathrin Gaál, Chair of Vienna`s Housing Committee said at the conference: "We in Vienna view housing as a fundamental right and regard it as a public task."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Before I went to Vienna I worked out that the average rent for a two-bed house in Stoneybatter is around €1,700 a month. An equivalent apartment in Vienna would be around </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">€330 per month, or one fifth the price. In Austria affordable rental housing isn't just for the least well-off, it is available to most residents. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Most people in Vienna rent, and most rent from the city itself, or the equivalent of our Approved Housing Bodies, similar to the Iveagh Trust or Respond Housing. During the 'Red Vienna' period from 1918 to 1934 the city built more than 60,000 homes. Back in Dublin Herbert Simms as Dublin Corporation's Housing Architect ensured that 17,000 homes were built between 1932 to 1948, not an inconsiderable achievement a few years after Vienna had kicked things off.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The difference in Austria is that political leaders believe in public housing, and they are building well-designed mixed-income public housing in significant numbers today. I was blown away by the quality of the housing stock, the attention given to detail and the good management of what they have. There is enormous civic pride in a city that goes out of its way to use housing policy to bring society together, rather than create divisions. They're not afraid to build high density public housing, but at the same time the quality of exterior landscaping, the planting and the generous balconies were something that you don't see too often in Dublin. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfk_NWMoRFhCEPyYDIthyphenhyphenMDTJd6Ph_5766d-hrFu3edHGmmYZivn8qfDC6YTlKA-LIP_IBCOtGXsf_Ig3AcrN_fDXV2MVqVNaHvycvQE53pFIxaKfW7tidCAGqVHCQDId40Km2IA/s1600/Street+20181205_110228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfk_NWMoRFhCEPyYDIthyphenhyphenMDTJd6Ph_5766d-hrFu3edHGmmYZivn8qfDC6YTlKA-LIP_IBCOtGXsf_Ig3AcrN_fDXV2MVqVNaHvycvQE53pFIxaKfW7tidCAGqVHCQDId40Km2IA/s400/Street+20181205_110228.jpg" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Since 1919 they've had a 1% tax on employment, split between employee and employer, and this helps fund ongoing investment in housing. They've also had a luxury tax, originally imposed on </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">riding-horses, large private cars, servants in private households, and hotel rooms, but still in use today to provide decent housing for all.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDxCc1q6NyaeR_5qqpOo1wfUcBclTlmL2BGjbOMiO59ogSYpmcU7tXP0dbD4pprwmwk8Me8jqJ0Bti9U_ZJd6hUDnFp42AgmnUAv5onrRFX-JPyI7sn5zHCHuwdP4kGQQlmzUbQQ/s1600/Maria+Vassilakou+20181204_161735.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDxCc1q6NyaeR_5qqpOo1wfUcBclTlmL2BGjbOMiO59ogSYpmcU7tXP0dbD4pprwmwk8Me8jqJ0Bti9U_ZJd6hUDnFp42AgmnUAv5onrRFX-JPyI7sn5zHCHuwdP4kGQQlmzUbQQ/s320/Maria+Vassilakou+20181204_161735.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The conference was linked in to the <a href="http://habitat3.org/the-new-urban-agenda/">New Urban Agenda</a>, which came out of the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, and is all about sustainable urban development. It will hopefully lead to more pressure on the European Union to help tackle housing challenges, and that's something that I intend doing if elected to the European Parliament for Dublin next May. I took the opportunity while in Vienna to meet up with my European Green party colleague Maria Vassilakou who is Deputy-Mayor of Vienna. The Greens share power with the Social Democratic Party in Vienna, and she is working to ensure that the bulk of housing on larger sites will be either city housing, or provided at affordable rents.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I travelled to Austria with colleagues from our City Council in Dublin, as well as some of Dublin City Council's senior housing officials. Most of the housing I saw in Vienna was well-designed, properly managed and mixed in tenure. The Austrians having been doing this well for a hundred years. <a href="https://www.greenparty.ie/campaigns/cost-rental/">Cost-rental housing</a> provides the opportunity to do this in Dublin and is worth supporting. Hopefully Minister Eoghan Murphy TD and his senior staff will pick up on this and apply some of the lessons from Vienna to Dublin's housing crisis.</span>Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-36333335069629452522018-07-04T12:04:00.000+01:002018-07-04T23:39:03.187+01:00New dawn for O'Devaney Gardens<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE5bMLr0Z7j52DBdVf0yPitdHs4jd0_pEYy9NuF98IdnNSTv6CZ5sGgqFYa4ekm1jn9pEyE2ibaXYKmV3UhIpBaM_GRNXL6aw9DUrA0qNuOYd2jtE-QMHz5UZNuB44_k-bxaoZnQ/s1600/ODG1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE5bMLr0Z7j52DBdVf0yPitdHs4jd0_pEYy9NuF98IdnNSTv6CZ5sGgqFYa4ekm1jn9pEyE2ibaXYKmV3UhIpBaM_GRNXL6aw9DUrA0qNuOYd2jtE-QMHz5UZNuB44_k-bxaoZnQ/s320/ODG1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Nice to have a sunny warm morning to launch the start of construction for 56 Council homes on the O'Devaney Gardens site. Our new Lord Mayor <a href="https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/independent-councillor-nial-ring-elected-as-the-new-lord-mayor-of-dublin-37049171.html">Councillor Niall Ring</a> did the honours of digging the first sod, flanked by our local Minister Paschal Donohoe and the Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy. Our Chief Executive <a href="http://www.dublincity.ie/main-menu-your-council/chief-executive">Owen Keegan</a> and City Architect <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6RqFMhLEo4">Ali Grehan</a> were in attendance, as was the Secretary-General from Housing <a href="https://whodoeswhat.gov.ie/departmenthead/housing/john-mccarthy/235/">John McCarthy</a>. It was great to have Councillor <a href="http://www.sinnfein.ie/janice-boylan">Janice Boylan</a> there as well, as she grew up in the flats. There's a pic of some of the crowd and media looking on as Niall put the spade in the ground. There's still four blocks standing of the old O'Devaney Gardens, and some of the residents are in the picture. The scheme is a good one, the homes will be A3-rated and range from two to three stories high. Too low you might argue, but they are adjacent to small one story-high homes, and the design by the Dublin City Architects is a good one.<br />
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The Public Private Partnership deal with Bernard McNamara for this site and others <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/risk-of-loss-led-to-mcnamara-ppp-pullout-1.1213803">collapsed</a> ten years ago, and casts a long shadow over the failure to provide decent housing in Dublin City. What happened to day is progress , but there are other issues that need to be addressed as the scheme proceeds.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgop4isslueKVNv2ybiIHYXPOpIyR2lNud6ZdqeXvdWXoy6cAquMdK0rEoQy4Eky1ZL1FGAwYxx-8-svljbRIAAYrF2pAqWtDiTEn6KCDPQwICMEHHrBQ5dwHayk_9jFAhGBmc4UA/s1600/OFG2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="176" data-original-width="640" height="88" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgop4isslueKVNv2ybiIHYXPOpIyR2lNud6ZdqeXvdWXoy6cAquMdK0rEoQy4Eky1ZL1FGAwYxx-8-svljbRIAAYrF2pAqWtDiTEn6KCDPQwICMEHHrBQ5dwHayk_9jFAhGBmc4UA/s320/OFG2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Looking ahead to the 500 other homes it is important to keep the momentum going. They entire development is intended be a mixed-tenure: 50% private, 30% social (both Council and approved housing body) and 20% affordable. This is a Council owned site, and I would have preferred a higher proportion of Council homes, but there wasn't support for this from the Department of Housing. I've nicked the images of the housing from the Dublin City Architects blog, and you can see their excellent posting <a href="http://www.dublincityarchitects.ie/?p=3360">here</a>.<br />
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I am concerned that the remainder of the development will be bundled into one contract. This apparently has been a requirement of the <a href="http://www.ndfa.ie/">National Development Finance Agency</a> I believe it is wrong to put all our eggs in the one basket, because if the developer goes belly-up, we'll be left with nothing. I'd prefer if it was divided into three separate contracts.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_tWVkQjRvEEy7SLCs0Y2GmpL3_ZhjQhMYqeX5t4w_ObsadyNVb07QxukRVtToLW7RF8Zwkodf-lhrDnXCHyvV-p4oWjghViE3tg3A3q5dtizcX89LRgte9UJ1a7bqOm-FlZAxQ/s1600/ODG3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="640" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq_tWVkQjRvEEy7SLCs0Y2GmpL3_ZhjQhMYqeX5t4w_ObsadyNVb07QxukRVtToLW7RF8Zwkodf-lhrDnXCHyvV-p4oWjghViE3tg3A3q5dtizcX89LRgte9UJ1a7bqOm-FlZAxQ/s320/ODG3.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
There is also a compelling argument to put the infrastructure into one contract separate from all of this. This would include water and sewage pipes, gas and lighting and other public realm works.<br />
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The original <a href="http://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/content/Housing/Documents/O%2527%20Devaney%20Gardens%20Final%20Masterplan%20Dec%202010c.pdf">Masterplan</a> approved by Bord Pleanála showed a public space in the centre of development, described as being similar to Sandymount Green. I am concerned that the green infrastructure might be reduced in favour of low-maintenance finishes such as plastic matting and concrete, and will be watching this closely. Of course the Phoenix park isn't far away, but the football pitches in the Park are, and it is important that there's somewhere for teenagers and younger children to play without having to cross busy roads. Quality finishes and well-designed public spaces are crucial to the success of the scheme. As issues around the public realm and place-making grow in importance it is important that we get this right. Down in the Docklands there have been <a href="https://www.dublininquirer.com/2017/06/13/less-of-the-docklands-is-public-space-than-you-think/">problems</a> around what is private space and what is public, the boundaries and responsibility was blurred and we need to get this right here.<br />
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It is also crucial that there are shops and work-spaces provided in the overall design. Otherwise it is at risk of becoming a ghetto. The original plans featured a neighbourhood centre, and while the new Lidl up the road at Hanlon's Corner reduces the need for shops, it makes sense that there are some retail or work units. Who knows what the future of retail is in 2018, but a row of small units that could have a Centra, a hairdressers, a bike shop or a cafe make sense and could provide services, jobs and training for residents and others. Some form of community space is also crucial.<br />
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There's been some calls for underground parking, but I believe this would be too expensive. Such spaces cost around €40,000 a pop, and the money would be better spent on community space. the 46A also runs right past the door, and good quality links to other public transport such as the Luas are nearby. We should ensure that dedicated parking for car-sharing is included in the plans, and of course space for DublinBikes.<br />
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Today was a good day, but we need to get the details right as we move on.<br />
<br />Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-39581047986342695662018-04-01T13:37:00.004+01:002018-04-03T12:03:05.786+01:00Good news for Moore Street?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">On 29th March 2018 Eamon Ryan TD and I met
with Frederich Ludewig of <a href="http://www.acme.ac/">Acme</a>: the
firm employed by <a href="https://www.hammerson.com/">Hammerson PLC</a> to
work on a revised design for the extensive lands that they control on and
around Moore Street in Dublin's north inner city. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">The drawings that Frederich showed us display a clear
understanding of the urban grain of the site. They are a marked change from the
over-scaled plans drawn up some years ago for the site. Interestingly he is
considering a small public square that would lie on a new East-West route that
would run from O'Connell Street across to the entrance to the ILAC centre on
Moore Street. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">He was accompanied by Simon Betty, head
of Hammerson Ireland and Julia Collier, their head of Public Affairs Hammerson
Ireland as well as Jackie Gallagher of Q4. I asked them were they going to be
taken over by the French company Klépierre, and they deftly kicked that
one to touch. Moore Street is a classic example of urban decay and possible
renewal, but the growing influence of global companies is self-evident when you
see that Klépierre is being <a href="http://www.klepierre.com/en/announcement-on-hammerson/">advised by</a> Goldman
Sachs and Citibank. Perhaps I'm too nostalgic, but I feel it is worrying that
global companies are taking over lands that were previously owned by local
families. Saskia Sassen has a <a href="https://rampages.us/mitchelldixs/saskia-sassen-whose-city-is-it-globalization-and-the-formation-of-new-claims/">lot </a>to
say on this issue. If Hammerson isn't taken over by Klépierre hopefully
they will proceed with a sensitive development on the site. It will need to
respects the small-grain character and the presence of history on the site. This has been discussed at lenght by the Lord mayor's Committee on Moore Stret set up by Councillor Críona Ní Dhálaigh, and the Moore Street Consultative Group, set up by the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and chaired by Tom Collins.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Frederich seemed open
to not proceeding with the 500 underground car parking spaces that were one of
the crazier aspects of the Planning Permission (</span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.pleanala.ie/casenum/232347.htm">PL 29N.232347</a>) granted by
Bord Pleanála. This permission has been extended to 2022 by City Council
officials. These plans even included an ugly car ramp on one side of O'Rahilly
Parade, along with various utility cabinets. Not the best of commemorative
tributes for someone who gave their life for Irish freedom. All the more reason
to come up new plans for the site. I don't envy them their job. With online
retail sales chomping up the high street at <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/315506/online-retail-sales-in-the-united-kingdom/">2%
a year</a>, it is hard to make predictions about the future of shopping
streets. What we do know though, is that they'll have to offer people a more
attractive option that suburban malls or curling up on the couch with your
tablet. If we make attractive places, they'll attract customers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Hamerson seem to be well aware of the
need to retain and conserve the buildings on the site that are Protected
Structures (Listed Buildings) in the Dublin City Council Development Plan, but
will also need to respect the buildings deemed of regional importance in the
Government's National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. It is also worth
keeping in public ownership the streets and lanes that are currently publicly
accessible in the area, even if new routes or squares are added. I'm hoping
that there will be a significant residential element in the new design. This
was minimised in the original <i>'Dublin Central</i>' scheme. It would be no
harm to have '<i>eyes on the street</i>' as Jane Jacobs would have said, but it
would also be important that the scheme provide some of the homes that we need
to tackle the housing crisis. It is also important that the views of existing
traders on street figure in the proposals. One worrying aspect though might be
the emergence of publicly accessible but privately owned or controlled open
spaces within the development. We've already seen this happen in Dublin's
Docklands, and there have been incidents of harassment from private security staff. It would be worrying if this were to happen on the streets and back-lanes
that witnessed the birth of the nation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Thankfully Dublin City Council controls
an important piece of the jigsaw. This is our cleansing depot at 24-25 Moore
Street. This piece of land is a crucial element of any redevelopment, and the
City Council will have the final say on whether to release this important site
for redevelopment. Let's see what Hammerson come up with. Hopefully it will be
a significant improvement on the existing Planning Permission. There's talk in
the plans of a John Lewis store fronting on to O'Connell Street which could be
just the kind of lift the area needs, particularly with the Luas Cross City in
place, and plans for Metrolink proceeding.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">That pic at the top? That's 2 Moore
Street. Ear-marked for demolition in the current plans, it would be good to
retain this building and others and add an extra few floors on top. Wouldn't it
be great to have ground floor shopping with families living over the shop once
more?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11965515.post-49184145145378300162017-10-08T22:07:00.000+01:002018-11-28T18:25:28.145+00:00How to tackle the Housing Crisis in Dublin<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I know I
shouldn’t really do this, but… </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Talking up high rise distracts from the substantive
issue: low-rise high density development is <a href="http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/government-facing-pushback-on-plans-to-build-high-rise-housing-808932.html">key </a>to delivering the housing we
need in Dublin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Besides, our
Development Plan allows for tall buildings (50m+) in four locations, and medium-rise (50m) in ten more. Have a look at <a href="http://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/content/Planning/DublinCityDevelopmentPlan/Written%20Statement%20Volume%201.pdf">Page 318</a> of the Dublin City Development Plan 2016-2022</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Years ago
Richard Rogers in the 'Towards and Urban Renaissance' Report showed that high rise often doesn’t achieve more than low-rise. That's why I feel Minister Murphy </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> should focus on financing affordable housing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He could also seek more European Investment Bank <a href="http://www.eib.org/projects/regions/european-union/ireland/index.htm">funding </a>for this, as well as introduce
a <a href="https://www.ipi.ie/news/press-releases/irish-planning-institute-comments-land-hoarding-and-site-value-tax">Site Value Tax</a> to reduce price of land as advocated by the Green Party and the Irish Planning Institute. He could increase the Vacant Site Levy from 3% to 10% or a more meaningful figure, and lower
the 400 sq. m. threshold. It is crazy that these <a href="http://cuffestreet.blogspot.ie/2017/01/tackling-decades-of-dereliction.html">houses </a>in Phibsboro don’t currently qualify for the levy as the sites they occupy are too small to qualify. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another
source of funding would be Credit Unions. Currently their surpluses go to
German Bond markets and elsewhere. They should be allowed invest in Ireland Inc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">How about
using 20% of Semi-State Pension funds to provide housing? CIE for instance had €1,332,000,000 in their pension pot in 2014, (<a href="http://www.cie.ie/SiteAssets/media-centre-%282%29/annual-reports-%282%29/2014%20English.pdf">see page 77</a>), it seems
crazy some of this is not used for housing, perhaps for the sons and daughters of CIE workers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://greenparty.ie/news/greens-call-for-legislation-to-implement-housing-reforms-in-nesc-report/">Cost Rental</a>
: this is what the Green Party and the National economic and Social Council want to see happen to break down ghettoisation in
housing policy. Let’s do this. It’s also time the Department of Housing gave back powers to Councils. It currently takes years for
us to build, as Central Government smothers local authorities with red tape every step of the way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It’s time the Department of Housing gave back powers back to Local Authorities. It currently takes years for us to build, and Central Government smothers councils with red tape every step of the way.We also need to </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">take the cowboys and cowgirls out of the rental market and increase standards in the private rental sector.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There’s thousands of underused or empty homes in Dublin and elsewhere, so let’s simplify the <a href="http://www.dublincity.ie/main-menu-services-planning-planning-news/living-city">Living City scheme</a> and make sure it delivers. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">How about making available sites for small builders or groups of those who wish to house themselves in our towns and cities: look what the Dutch are </span><a href="https://www.amsterdam.nl/publish/pages/674600/planam-06-2014-eng.pdf" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">doing</a>.<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And there’s lots of prefabricated home suppliers around Europe: here’s </span><a href="https://www.boklok.com/about-the-BoKlok-concept/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">one </a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">developed by IKEA and Skanska </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Finally, let’s
focus on quality, That’s what Herbert Simms as Dublin City architect did back in the 1930s, we should do
the same, and architects and others
are there to help.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Over to you Eoghan...</span></div>
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Ciaránhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12013998074728053786noreply@blogger.com0