A chara, – Having forced hundreds of Dublin workers (like me) to use up their annual leave days, the striking Dublin Bus drivers have given a whole new meaning to the term “busman’s holiday”. – Is mise,
MAOLSHEACHLANN
Ó CEALLAIGH,
Ballymun,
Dublin 11.
Sir, – Spare a thought for all the home-bound older people who rely on carers reliant on buses. – Yours, etc,
JONATHON ROTH,
Limerick.
Sir, – Yet again Dublin can claim to be at the cutting edge. At a time when there is so much talk of driverless cars, we have gone one better. We have driverless buses. – Yours, etc,
BOB BARRY,
Ashbourne,
Co Meath.
Sir, – The dispute in Dublin Bus demonstrates the reluctance of the Government to properly subvent a transport system in the public interest.
Why? Because in the same way that no member of the Government is on the housing list, we can be sure that all have their own transport. – Yours, etc,
EUGENE TANNAM,
Dublin 24.
Sir, – I hear you, Ronan Scanlan (September 16th). I had to cajole the tow truck driver of my now dead 2003 VW Polo into believing that I was not in fact a dumb blonde and that one can indeed drive in a bus lane from Drumcondra to Dorset Street from the hours of 10am until midday. Beats paying the tunnel toll any day. – Yours, etc,
CAROLINE CONNOLLY,
Dundalk, Co Louth.
Sir, – That the current industrial action by Dublin Bus drivers looks set to escalate should come as no surprise to anyone.
The spectre of privatisation looms in the background to all of this and this hasn’t been mentioned in most media discourse, aside from Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary’s predictable and unhelpful intervention urging complete privatisation of Dublin Bus.
In 2015, the National Transport Authority (NTA) announced its decision to put 10 per cent of Dublin Bus routes out to tender, something which would logically be construed as “the thin end of the wedge”.
The NTA was established by the then minister for transport in 2009 and its remit is to act as a statutory body implementing Department of Transport policy.
Therefore, the Minister for Transport would broadly support the NTA’s stance on public transport for the future. This, coupled with continual cuts in Government subvention in order to produce a situation where Dublin Bus in its current state is untenable, has to be a large part of the rationale as to why he and the Government have no desire to raise the rate of subvention and provide the funding that would satisfy the driver’s demands and end the dispute. This is why he is determined to take a back seat (excuse the pun) in this matter.
My suspicion is that after years of tolerance Dublin Bus drivers simply felt that, given what’s playing out in the background, they had nothing further to lose.
Members of the public are, regrettably, collateral damage in all of this! – Yours, etc,
JD MANGAN,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.
A chara, – Might I suggest that cars with at least four people be allowed to use bus lanes. Some creative thinking is required to relieve commuters’ hardships. – Is mise,
SEÁN Ó CUINN,
An Charraig Dhubh,
Co Átha Cliath.