The Dublin Community Blog

I’m a bit late but you may find this useful if you have to heave heavy shopping across the city like I did today, fair play to Clearwire for the Christmas shuttle:

The free Clearwire Christmas shuttle will be running between O’Connell Street and Grafton street on Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week to save the weary shopping feet of the people of Dublin.

The shuttle will be running tomorrow from 10am till 4pm and you can hop on outside Topshop at the top of Grafton Street or outside Cleary’s. You can hop off outside Penny’s on O’Connell Street, at the bottom of Grafton Street outside Trinity or outside Topshop. So if you are in town be sure to check it out!

 

EDIT: November 15 @11.08am -  An official opening date has been announced, December 20. (Spotted on TCAL)
Daragh wrote back in September that the Dublin Port Tunnel was to open in mid-November. It now appears that it will open before Christmas with an official date being made before the end of the month. (You would have thought getting it open in time for the Christmas rush would have been important particularly considering the crazy traffic on the quays yesterday evening which was made up of WWW wrestling fans (apparently there was a do in the Point Depot) and trucks and lorries making their way to the port for the evening sailing.
Before then there will be a 10km charity race through the tunnel on December 10. More information on that here and here. Sounds like a cool thing to do.
And back to tunnel news did you know 5,000 people worked 7.5million people hours constructing the €752m project. At 4.5km long it is the longest urban tunnel in Europe and should transport traffic from the M50 to Dublin Port in six minutes. (The site actually contradicts itself on this fact, on one page it says six minutes while on the map at the front it says 10.)
Check out the Dublin Port Tunnel website which has lots of really cool photographs, some of which I am reproducing here. Who knew Star Wars was going on underneath our feet…

Above pic by Mark Marshall

No accreditation for the above pic.

Above pic by Jason Clarke

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.

There are reports coming through of a suspect device having been found in St Ann’s Church on Dawson St in Dublin. No more details as of yet. According to AA Roadwatch Dawson St is closed until further notice. The Army Bomb Squad are en-route to investigate this. More details on these as we find them.

UPDATE 16:34

According to an AA Roadwatch update Dawson St has now re-opened but traffic around the area is very heavy.

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.

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!!

The Italian Job hit Temple Bar on Saturday evening! Ok, not quite, but still a bit of fun!