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Yesterday, in the aftermath of the climbdown regarding the Medical Cards fiasco, I read a post on the weblog of Green Party Justice Spokesperson Ciarán Cuffe, which dealt with the Medical Cards issue.
After reading the post, I gave him my view of the Fianna Fáíl / Green coalition, and put some questions to him and [...]
Today’s Financial Times carries a bleak interview with Aer Lingus CEO Dermot Mannion, which of course is part of a pattern of bleak economic news these days. One part of it brings us back to the uproar that surrounded the departure of Aer Lingus from Shannon for the El Dorado of Belfast –
The above is a picture of a toll plaza on the Dulles Toll Road in the US state of Virginia. Note the structure: barrier free lanes on the left with an overhead gantry for transponder (EZ Pass) users with separated toll lanes on the right giving a choice of exact change payment or full [...]
Not that it’s any use in solving the problem, but has anyone done a cost comparison on the storage costs for the e-voting machines versus the cost of having a backup radar system for Dublin Airport? In a cinematic note, the existence of a backup radar system was of course a key plot twist in [...]
The RPA released a consulation document today on the feasibility of a new Luas line ‘E’ from Dundrum to Christchurch, covering Terenure and Harold’s Cross. The proposal for line E was not included in Transport 21 but the RPA are hoping that the study will be included in a later revision of the project. It [...]
It would be foolish to completely rubbish the newly-announced plans to introduce road safety classes to Transition Year students as any move in that direction is a positive one; but the whole thing does leave you asking ‘is this it?’
One of Bertie Ahern’s home stretch events today was to launch the Dublin Airport Authority’s plan for Dublin Airport City. Not to put too fine a point on it, this seems like one of the crazier proposals to have emerged over the last year, and symptomatic of much of what is wrong with governance and [...]
The time of the departure of Bertie Ahern has now been announced. What of his legacy, his place in Irish history? Here are some points that might be considered.
The people of the Shannon region probably would have ranked the options for airport hub connections as follows: (1) restoration of the Aer Lingus service, (2) British Midland to Heathrow, and (3) service to a continental hub. For now they are getting the third, with Cityjet service to Roissy/Charles de Gaulle, meaning connections to the [...]
Politicians are as guilty as anyone when it comes to misuse of language, sometimes because they don’t actually understand the meaning of the words they use but often because it can allow a perception to spread that may not reflect the reality.
One example of this is the now regular use of the phrase ‘On Demand’ [...]
Labour the other day released a press release about the new car add’s showing the CO2 emissions from cars such as adds with g/km of CO2 in them. Tommy Broughan says
The transport sector contributes very significantly to our total greenhouse gas emissions. This proposal for making much more information available to consumers on the environmental [...]
Muchc of the talk in Ireland about public transport in recent years has talked about the need for more spending more interconnection etc etc. This is indeed true but sometimes just a bit of common sense is needed. Take for instance the BallyBrophy Limerick train line. It is an oldish line but still in use [...]
A quick review of where things stand on Aer Lingus and its services to Heathrow. First, yet more evidence that Belfast is not the golden goose that EI seemed to think it was heading towards. Easyjet is beginning European services out of Aldergrove almost immediately, including one to Barcelona that will compete head-to-head with Aer [...]
Announced this afternoon — the rule requiring that a driver on a 2nd provisional licence have a driver with a full licence in the car is postponed until end of June 2008. 8 months to clear the test backlog (209,000 currently on their 1st provisional, by the way). Statement from the Department of [...]
No two ways about it, the main man Noel Dempsey is having a nightmare of a time in Transport. He has been badly undone by Aer Lingus and the FOI revelations (even though the civil servant took the rap) and now his handling of the driver’s licence regulations is woeful beyond belief. How can one screw up [...]
Video from yesterday’s Save Our Slots Rally
I am unable to embed them here, but they can be found at the below link
Link.
Update Simon. Video added below
techPresident – The Future of Campaign Technology: The Ground Game
Irish Parties looking at learning online and database lessons from Obama could do worse than bear this post in mind. Almost as soon as the election is over, improvements and evolution are making some parts redundant and others essential. Get your campaign an i-phone for everyone? Might be better than printing flyers, it goes to show how parties, if they take it seriously, need to keep ahead of the wave - not just follow.
Colman at the EuroTrib give his reasoning on why Lisbon is dead. The Government's incapable handling of the budget cuts are the nail in the coffin.
Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar offers his view on how the SBP Opinion Poll would translate in an election.
Think tank: Time for democracy to click into place
Dan Sullivan gets himself into The Sunday Times, calling for the internet to connect citizens to a more meaningful democracy. Its an argument I agree with wholeheartedly myself. Have a read and let him know what you think.
Colm Burke MEP reckons that we need to get honest and tell people we will be holding a second Lisbon Vote in Oct 2009 with protocols desigend to secure a yes vote.
