€336k bike shelter cheap compared to proposed Leinster House library
Like most people, I was pretty shocked by the revelation that a very simple bike shelter on the Leinster lawn side of our parliament had cost the taxpayer €336,000. An online search shows a similar and perhaps more elegant structure, the Ark Cycle Shelter, available at a cost of €6,446.90 plus VAT. The area where the […]
Why is our infrastructure delivery worse now than in the 19th century?
Last week, Kevin O’Sullivan wrote here about the risk that Ireland might find itself a victim of heatwaves, droughts, and forest fires. Having spent this month in County Roscommon’s Shannon side, previous expert predictions that Ireland was more likely to have wetter cloudier if slightly warmer summers seemed a little more credible to me. Predictions […]
Our immigration challenges will not be solved by EU migration pact
Anyone who thinks that the issue of immigration is going to disappear politically and be eclipsed by other issues such as housing, climate change and taxation is, I regret to say, mistaken. The recent local and European Parliament elections seemed to demonstrate that there was no coherent groundswell of nativism and nationalism along the lines of the Reform party in Britain. There […]
Our immigration challenges will not be solved by EU migration pact
Anyone who thinks that the issue of immigration is going to disappear politically and be eclipsed by other issues such as housing, climate change and taxation is, I regret to say, mistaken. The recent local and European Parliament elections seemed to demonstrate that there was no coherent groundswell of nativism and nationalism along the lines of the Reform party in Britain. There […]
Trump and Musk’s ‘conversation’ reveals dangers not explicit until now
The seriousness of the threat that Donald Trump poses to liberal democracy was re-emphasised in his online “conversation” with Elon Musk late Monday evening. But it reveals heightened dangers that we had not seen made explicit until now. Perhaps the most plain was the job offer that Trump made to Musk to participate in any administration that he would […]
Is Metrolink the best way to provide a rail link to Dublin Airport?
At the end of July the Government published jointly with the Department of Infrastructure of Northern Ireland a document called All-Island Strategic Rail Review, authored by Ove Arup Ltd, a reputable engineering consultancy. The review is “focused on how the rail network across the island could contribute to the decarbonisation of the island’s transport systems, promote sustainable […]