The Irish Times view on Fine Gael and the Dublin Transport Plan: populist posturing

Anyone forced to commute across Dublin on a regular basis will be all too aware of the appalling congestion which bedevils the city. Data from in-car navigation systems and smartphones in 387 cities across the world ranks Dublin as the worst for time lost in traffic jams. That is a shameful failure of good government, with drastic consequences for the environment, climate, productivity and public health.

The crisis – and it is a crisis – demands urgent remedies. Chief among these is accelerating the switch from private motoring to public transport and active travel (walking and cycling). That will of course inconvenience some, while others will argue that the alternatives are too slow and unreliable. But increased investment in buses, trams and trains will be wasted if the streets remain clogged with private cars.

These simple realities have been accepted by Dublin City Council, as well as by the current Government, which has embedded them in policies at national level. It is regrettable, therefore, to see senior members of one Government party indulging in populist posturing that directly contradicts them. First it was Fine Gael candidate (and now MEP) Regina Doherty’s absurd comparison of new cycle lanes with the Berlin Wall. Now it is newly elevated Minister of State Emer Higgins calling on the council to pause its planned introduction of new busgates along the Liffey quays to discourage private cars from traversing the city centre.

Simon Harris and his colleagues would do well to reflect on whether it is wise to indulge in shallow signalling of this sort. If Fine Gael actually favours slowing down investment in cycling infrastructure or stymieing better public transport, the party’s candidates for Dublin City Council should have made that clear to voters before they went to the polls last month. It is a measure of the weakness of local democracy that the ultimate decision on the matter lies with neither councillors nor ministers, but with the unelected city manager, who has already made significant amendments to the plan in response to business concerns. Those should be quite sufficient.