The Dublin Community Blog

The former Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Dermot Lacey, can often be seen riding around the capital on his e-bike, but sadly no more.

Leaving the City Hall on Tuesday October 17, Cllr Lacey was distraught to discover his beloved bike was no longer chained to the bike stand outside.

“The irony of all this is that I was at a meeting talking about the need for a proper transport sytem for Dublin and the failure of the Government to establish a democratic Dublin Transportation Authority and the need for a proper energy policy. Only to come out and find my own transport gone and my energy on this occasion sapped.

“Because of it’s internal operating methods without the individual key which I still have, the bike is actually of no use at all to anyone else. It is a heavy enough bike and would be of limited use to anyone without that key.

“There are few of these bikes in Ireland and they are very distinctive, so if anyone has any information can they contact me at 087 26 46 960.”
The  e-bike is an efficent electronic environmentally friendly bike that gets you to your destination with less effort than normal push bikes, Cllr Lacey explained.

This is the councillor’s second bike, the first had the honour of leading the St Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin in 2003 and was also a familiar sight around the city. However the first one was also stolen from the same spot three years ago.

There was a bit of commuting hell this evening along the northside of O’Connell Street, it was all down to a bump between the bus I was travelling in and a taxi. It caused mayhem on an already busy rush hour.

I take the number 10 home most evenings and it is increasingly becoming a pain. I board on Baggot Street and it is more than normal for buses to drive past full to the brim of commuters and for me to be left standing. When it happens once it is annoying but when it happens two and three times you find yourself putting your hand out for a taxi.

Not tonight though the bus driver squeezed as many of us as he could onto the bus and off we went. Normally the bus practically empties on Dawson Street and O’Connell Street which makes the case in my mind anyway for additional buses going from UCD  to town.

Anyway I digress as we travelled up O’Connell Street and dropped and picked up passengers at the bus stop there was a crunch as the bus pulled out onto the road smack bang into a taxi.

Thankfully there were no injuries and both the bus and taxi appear to be not too damaged. However we all got off the bus and stood at the bus stop with all the other people trying to get home. At the same time the rush hour traffic slowly weaved it’s way around the accident scene.

I waited a while for another bus meanwhile the sheer amount of people also waitig for a bus meant there was no way I was getting home soon, so I flagged a taxi and now I am sitting at home, in front of a fire and looking forward to a lovely dinner.

I’ve just read with disgust that protestors from Monaghan, aggrieved (admittedly genuinely) with the downgrading of the emergency status of the hospital recently, are planning on taking their protest from their locality in Monaghan, to cause traffic and transport chaos along the M50 in Dublin.

They are operating under the belief that the seat of power for the country is in Dublin, and until they start to hurt the people of Dublin, that their local issues will not be listened to or addressed.

Now, I for one have serious issues with this. Whilst I have no issues with people expressing their grievances with various powers of authority on any occasion, such are the joys and benefits of democracy, I have a serious issue with people purposely setting out to cause misery and suffering to innocent bystanders who, in this case, already have a miserable time trying to negotiate their way through Dublin traffic to start with!!

What makes this all the more galling, is the fact that The Monaghan Community Hospital Alliance (MCHA) chairman, Peadar Mc Mahon, recognises the fact that he will cause innocent bystanders to suffer “People have died as a result of the downgrading of Monaghan Hospital. We are prepared to go to any lengths to remove that anxiety,”

If you wish to voice your anger, support or otherwise with this cause, please feel free to comment here, participate in our poll (see right) or, contact the Monaghan Hospital Alliance direct, contact details are:

County Monaghan Alliance
C/O Peadar McMahon
Mullan Road,
Emyvale,
Co. Monaghan.
Tel: 086-8156816
email: peadar@emyvale.net

The M50 southbound at the Firhouse junction is currently closed, apparently due to a person threathning to jump from the bridge. This will further add to the traffic woes around Dublin during this evenings commute, with the area around Dawson St also being closed due to a security incident. More on this as it happens also.

UPDATE: 16:35

According to this update the M50 has now re-opened also.

Thursday’s taxi strike has been cancelled to allow talks to take place between taxi unions and the Department of Transport.
Traffic in Dublin was severely disrupted following yesterday’s protest when up to 1,000 taxis blocked O Connell Street according to news reports.

Yesterday’s protest was the fourth protest since July.

Taxi drivers are protesting against a number of changes which have been put in place by the Taxi Regulator and are due to come into action at the end of the month including doing away with luggage charges and the €1.50 hiring charge for picking up from Dublin Airport. The drivers are also protesting against increasing the fee paid by drivers who work the airport from €70 a year to €500.

News links: Breaking News, RTE and the Irish Times (sub required).

It is being reported today that the long overdue Dublin Port Tunnel is being scheduled to open in mid-November, with a date to be confirmed within the next two weeks. Plans are apparently underway to hold a charity fundraising 10km swim run through the tunnel on the weekend prior to its opening. More details on the tunnel as and when we get them.

I know it’s been a while…. Sorry. Work has become actual, real work since the new show started intead of the half-arsed hobby it was before. Not that I’m complaining This one’s been brewing for a while and I think it’s reached it’s boiling point for me.

What in the name of flip is happening to the city petrol stations?

Maybe it’s just in the parts of the world I drive through regularly but everywhere I look they’re closing down. Now I accept that the land they’re on is, in some cases, worth 50 years of the profits of an average service station and I’ll be the first to say we drive far, far too much and should use (our highly flawed) public transport wherever possible but it’s becoming an epidemic.

In recent weeks I’ve passed by the closed ones at the Blackrock Clinic, Parnell Road on the canal, opposite the mosque in Clonskeagh, opposite the Bank Of Ireland just before the Long Mile Road, Newtownpark Avenue, Churchtown, the one on the Stillorgan dual carriageway before Mount Merrion Avenue… They’re everywhere. Not that there aren’t enough left to service the rest of the population I’m sure but, given enough time, will running one simply become unprofitable in comparison to land values? Will we have to commute to greenfield sites to fill up?

Bit of an exaggeration, maybe…

R

Another Monday morning, yet another Taxi Strike in Dublin to add to the traffic woes around the city. Now that the schools are back and holidays are over, traffic is back to it’s usual manic levels again, meaning that no matter what time you leave the house for work you are doomed. I’m working in Citywest for the week, which is probably THE worst place in the country to have to work, especially living out near Drogheda as I do. I can now look forward to spending at least three hours a day commuting to and from work, and moreif it gets wet or there’s an accident along the way…yay!!

DART Delays

Originally uploaded by DjMagra.

The DART’s (light rail) around Dublin are a broken mess this morning! It took me over an hour to do a trip that normally takes 20 minutes, to say I’m not impressed this morning would be an understatement. If you’re planning on taking a Dart this morning, forget about it!! Grrr!

Following approval by the Minister for Transport Martin Cullen, the Luas Green line is to be extended from Sandyford to Cherrywood by 2010 with an estimated increased from 10m passengers a year to 18m. The works will consist of an additional 7.5km of tracks. All we need now is to join the Green and Red lines together and we’re laughin. More on Breaking News.