Dublin city traffic plan

Sir, – Sadhbh O’Neill’s advice to Fine Gael on the Dublin transport plan may well fall on deaf ears (“Some free advice for Fine Gael on Dublin’s transport plan”, Opinion & Analysis, July 2nd). Our betters, it seems, know of a different reality. In the 1970s, award-winning plans for the Danish city of Aalborg to create a better environment for pedestrians and cyclists were altered, watered down and delayed by business and political interests. In his study on the Aalborg plan, Rationality and Power: Democracy in Practice, Bent Flyvbjerg’s first conclusion was power defines reality, rather that discovering what reality is.

In a city that was never designed around the car, Dublin’s citizens deserve a quality, car-free environment. We will, no doubt, get this in time. In the meantime, however, we will pay for the delay through the costs to health and business. – Yours, etc,

KEN BOYLE,

Sustainable Education Lead,