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RENUA IRELAND ISSUED a press release today comparing the Luas works currently taking place across Dublin to a “war-zone” which makes the city “harder to escape from than Alcatraz”.
The party, which has no TDs in Dáil Éireann, and its leader John Leahy urge Minister for Transport Shane Ross to “sort out the ongoing Luas works that have turned life into pure purgatory for long distance country commuters”.
A comparison is also drawn between the state of O’Connell Street now to how it looked after the Easter Rising:
[O'Connell Street] looks like it did after being shelled in 1916 such is the scale of the devastation.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie, chairperson of the Dublin City Council transport committee Councillor Ciarán Cuffe dismissed the comparison between Dublin’s main street now and 1916.
Leahy said that people face “four-hour commutes” as they spend their lives stuck in “city centre bottlenecks”.
The Renua leader also extended his sympathy to business owners “who have suffered as a consequence of seeing their streets being turned into war-zones”.
He compared the overhead lines from which the Luas operates to a “spider’s web” and added that the centre of Dublin has turned into a “jungle of wires, craters and potholes”.
Renua closes its release with a call for Minister Ross to set up a task force with a remit to ensure that the Luas Cross City works is finished within three months.
Major project
Green Party Councillor Cuffe said that people are well aware that the construction project makes getting around more difficult, but hundreds of thousands of people would benefit and avail of the service upon completion.
“There’s a major construction project underway,” he said. “I’m very much looking forward to the opening of the line later this year.”
While delays are inevitable and the works extensive, Cuffe said that it would not be correct to make the 1916 comparison, in particular:
I would be very cautious about comparing O’Connell Street now to how it looked after the shelling in 1916.
One sticking point for Cuffe, however, is the issue of the overhead wires at certain points.
He said: “They could be better detailed. I would be concerned at the supporting pillars too, in front of some our finer buildings such as the Bank of Ireland at College Green and the Abbey Theatre.”
Vicious cycle
One group of commuters who say the Luas works have had a negative effect is cyclists.
They have raised numerous issues with the Luas Cross City works, with a series of complaints made to the transport authority on the issue.
The complaints, released to TheJournal.ie under the Freedom of Information Act by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, detail some of the issues raised by members of the public in the last three months, with the word “lethal” used on more than one occasion.
Currently, Luas Cross City is installing a track link between the Red and Green routes, together with the tram service’s expansion towards Broombridge in Cabra on Dublin’s northside.
Most of the issues concern the works seen between O’Connell Bridge and Parnell Square in the city centre.
Cycling alongside in-service Luas tracks can be hazardous as one or both wheels can easily become trapped in the rails’ grooves.
Almost there
After four years of construction, this Luas Cross City project is nearing completion.
Expected to open in December, the finished project will add an extra line and 13 new stops onto the Luas network.
Once it is complete, you won’t have to change trams if travelling from Brides Glen to Broombridge – meaning the green line tram won’t stop at Stephen’s Green (currently the most northern stop on the green line) and will continue on to Broombridge.
Construction work is ongoing with latest road disruptions to affect Dawson Street, Anne Street South, Duke Street and Duke Lane for the next two months.
Construction on the Luas Cross City began in June 2013. The cost of the project is estimated at €368 million.
Here is what the Luas Map will look like once finished:
With reporting from Cianan Brennan
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Does anyone know of one bar or restaurant, or hair salon for that matter, that reduced their prices when they last sought and received a 4.5% VAT reduction? Furthermore, does anyone know of one bar, restaurant or hair salon that didn’t increase their prices by at least 4.5% when the VAT rate was returned to 13.5%?
@Jack Cass: Of course not. Price only goes up, never down. Price gouging seems to be a national sport in Ireland unfortunately.
@Jack Cass: The reduction is to help them, not the customers
@Jack Cass: I know plenty of bars and restaurants that have closed down though. I doubt they did that before setting Thor prices to the minimum viable
@Jack Cass: The point of the reduction was not to reduce prices for consumers, it was so that the costs for the businesses would come down and they could afford to stay open at a time when energy, insurance, wages and all other inputs were skyrocketing. The reason prices kept rising when the vat rate returned to 13.5% is that those costs are still rising. Government imposed costs such as the extra bank holiday, increased sick days, increased employer prsi have a huge effect on an industry that has to employ a lot of staff but which operates on very small margins. If you think it’s an industry that makes super profits then explain why so many have closed or gotten into serious financial problems in the past number of years e.g. Press Up Group.
@Richard Keogh: Press up group is an awful example if you’re wanting to talk about the hard-pressed hospitality business. Leveraged to the hilt and it all comes crashing down eventually.
‘Standard’ VAT rate of 23% on toilet paper,shampoo and toothpaste. Everyday essentials. It means every time you spend €5 on these products roughly €1 goes to the exchequer. To pay for bike sheds and security huts.
@Larry Betts: Michael Stone needs another yacht, those things don’t pay for themselves.
Will they pass on to customers i think not
@martin finnegan:
Hotel prices have more than doubled over the past 2 yrs (.Assuming you can find one)
Eating out is twice the price .
Will they return to 2022 prices.
Definitely not.
The decision on this – as one so many other important business decisions will be heavily influenced by senior civil servants who have permanent pensionable Monday to Friday secure jobs, and who have never come remotely close to ever running a business themselves. ( Having a degree is NOT the same thing )
Many of the recurring problems in modern Ireland stem from this fact.
Lowering the Vat rate won’t help small cafes & restaurants, Roderic O Gorman has destroyed Irish Tourism in less than 2 years, particularly along the Western seaboard. A business & brand that took decades to build wiped out by ROG in 2 years. Multi millionaires been made now out of IPAS accommodation, the biggest growth business in Ireland. Unfortunately it does nothing for Tourism or Hospitality.
@SV3tN8M4: It sounds like those business are doing quite well
So they won’t reimplement the 9% rate as it will cost €764m or €545m for the year. If only there was €14bn coming into the coffers in a few months…
@Stephen Heffernan: why would or should they. The hospitality industry didn’t pass the reduction on the last time. If they do reduce the vat rate then everyone needs to accept that it is a direct subvention to the running costs and profit of the industry and not be looking for prices to reduce…because they won’t. I’d rather my tax money was used in better ways….just my opinion
@Stephen Heffernan: the hotel gouging for the likes of the Oasis concert will more than make up for it.
@Toca Stories: I agree and I don’t think prices would decrease for the customer. I’m just pointing out the fact that they’re using cost as the reason to not reimplement it when in fact there’s plenty of money available if they wanted to do it.
Buy 50 pints in the bar of your local hotel and get a free nights accommodation.
Why are they consulting these businesses. The lower VAT rate is to benefit the consumer isn’t it?
@Liam Byrne: No, it was to keep businesses alive, it was never about lowering prices for consumer.
Hahahahahaha!
Definitely not hotels.. they took the shillings for refugees and opened the rest of the hotel at double the price. You can’t have it both ways. Greed.
It’s a race to the bottom.
They robbed the country blind when vat rate dropped to help them, so i say f the lot of them bring their vat rate up to 23% the greedy robbin bstrds
the price will not decrease if they even get that.
it will continue to get higher, and less rooms will be available anyway and everybody knows why
have your say