Tony O'Donnell, Kildare Town
I grew up in Newbridge and went to college in Dublin, but I moved back to Kildare a few years ago. I'm right beside the train station. It's not a very big estate; there are only 30-odd houses. I have got to know a lot of the neighbours. Many have lived here since it was built, around 1997, so they're integrated into the area. There's a big green, and the kids play football and hurling on it. We have fireworks every year for Halloween, and, depending on the weather, we have a big barbecue during the summer.
I'd much rather commute on the train, but it's really difficult to get from Heuston Station to Donnybrook, where I work; you'd have to get a combination of the Luas and buses. And there aren't too many trains in the evening, so if you were working late you could easily get caught out, so now I drive. It takes about two hours up and about an hour and a half back. I tune into Newstalk 106 and listen to Eamon Dunphy and George Hook; they keep me occupied.
I was travelling up on the train until lately. I helped to set up a rail users' group, and we did a bit of research. A four-hour commute isn't anything strange; it's quite common, in fact. What's worse is the situation of people who have children in schools; when they move down to Kildare they keep them in the Dublin schools, so the kids also get a four-hour commute every day. We did a survey last year, and people who did that kind of commute said that they still felt they were well positioned regarding access to work. So people are really desensitised to it all.
The most stressful part is when trains are delayed or cancelled and there's no explanation or apology or anything. You're just left standing in the rain. People think if you're not driving it's going to be less stressful, but at least with driving you accept these things are going to happen. On the train you don't.
A lot of problems could be resolved if people were working close to their homes. The only thing a lot of people need now in their lives is more time, and the only way you can get that is if the jobs are closer to where you live. More businesses should realise that in Kildare you're as close to Dublin Airport as south Co Dublin is.
Kildare is like two towns now: the older town - those who play the football matches and drink in the pubs - and the new people who move in and, because of the pressures of work, don't have the time or the energy to integrate. It's disappointing, because it's a great place to live. There's a lot going on if you scratch the surface.
In conversation with Davin O'Dwyer.