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Some free advice for Fine Gael on Dublin’s transport plan

Junior minister Emer Higgins’s attempt to stall the Dublin Transport Plan is short-term, reactionary populism

Traffic on the quays: Dublin is the 12th most congested city in the world, with an average of 115 hours lost per driver annually. Photograph: Laura Hutton

Sadhbh O’Neill
Tue Jul 2 2024 - 06:00

As the UK heads to the polls later this week in a general election likely to topple the Conservative Party, spare a moment to consider Rishi Sunaks’ latest gambit to appeal to London’s voters. With a cynically titled “Backing Drivers Bill”, Sunak promised, if returned to government, to scrap measures introduced to address London’s appalling air pollution and congestion, saying “we are the party on the side of drivers”.

This Tory rhetoric represents a new form of anti-politics which seeks to make a political virtue of selfishness, carelessness and greed. The merits of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone and its clear success to date – a reduction in traffic-related nitrogen dioxide emissions of 20 per cent since 2019, alongside significant, long-term health improvements – are swept to one side. Instead, anti-climate populism relies on triggering emotions like resentment, anger and fear.

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Ireland is not immune to the political phenomenon of short-termism and reactionary populism. We saw Fine Gael’s Regina Doherty cynically lash out against a supposed “spaghetti junction of cycle lanes” during the European Parliament elections to try to tap into Dublin voters’ frustrations with traffic congestion. Now, the newly appointed junior minister at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Emer Higgins, has asked Dublin City Council to stall the implementation of the Dublin Transport Plan until 2025, presumably so that Fine Gael can capitalise on the frustrations of Dubliners without having to actually do anything about them.

The cost of congestion, already estimated by Dublin Chamber at €350 million per annum, will cripple the city if current trends continue

Public transport users, cyclists and commercial drivers all experience frustration with Dublin’s traffic congestion. The plan proposes to do something about this by restricting the manner in which cars can travel through the capital, including the introduction of bus gates on Dublin quays.

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But to prioritise the opposition of car park owners and some business groups – who have objected to the new strategy – to Dublin’s new transport plan, above all other stakeholders, is an alarming turn, even for Fine Gael.

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No one has asked me but I have some free advice for Fine Gael and Emer Higgins.

1. Listen to your voters. Dubliners voted comprehensively in support of pro-climate, pro-public transport and active travel candidates in the 2024 local elections. Opinion polls and surveys show consistently high levels of support for active travel measures and even restrictions on car access. The transport plan received more than 3,400 public submissions with in excess of 80 per cent of respondents supporting all of the proposed measures. Just four public representatives made submissions, none of whom were from Fine Gael.

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2. Respect local government. We have a uniquely centralised model of government in Ireland, with few powers delegated to local authority level. However, the making of a development plan is one of these. The junior minister’s intervention smacks of interference in Dublin city’s efforts to do planning properly by engaging with the public and with stakeholders and to make informed decisions after carefully deliberating the evidence. This is a poor example for the future of sustainable projects nationwide.

3. Don’t be careless with big decisions. Dublin’s future as a home for more than one million people, a cultural destination, and an employment centre depends on reliable public transport. As most shopping trips to the capital are conducted on public transport, it makes more sense from a retail-spend point of view to speed up bus journey times than to privilege the access of private motorists. To suggest otherwise is to ignore the evidence that shapes good policy.

Emer Higgins has asked Dublin City Council to delay the Dublin Transport Plan until 2025, presumably so Fine Gael can capitalise on the frustrations of Dubliners without having to do anything about them

4. Listen to what the majority of businesses are actually saying. The representative body for commerce in Dublin city is the Dublin Chamber which represents more than 1,000 businesses and 300,000 workers, and is supportive of the transport plan. More than 200 business representatives attended various public consultation events prior to the adoption of the plan.

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5. Centre-right parties should offer reassurance, policy stability and forward thinking, not reckless U-turns. As Fine Gael and other centre-right parties ready themselves for the next general election, they will be tempted to go into reverse on some areas of green policies. But Dublin is now the 12th most congested city in the world, with an average of 115 hours lost per driver annually. The cost of congestion, already estimated by Dublin Chamber at €350 million per annum, will cripple the city if current trends continue, even if you did not care about the public health or environmental consequences. Fine Gael has a duty to behave responsibly and to respect decisions already taken.

Sadhbh O’Neill is a climate and environmental researcher

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