Sir, - Ms Liz O'Donnell, TD (June 1st) has given a new meaning to the expression "without delay". She says that, on behalf of the Progressive Democrats, she would like to assure the people of Dublin that construction of the Sandyford-City Centre and Tallaght-City Centre Luas links will proceed without delay. She tries to convey the impression that the present Government's decision is a leap forward in the construction time-scale for the light rail system.
It is nothing of the sort. The original plan proposed by the DTI, and already set in motion by the previous Government, would have seen both of the above lines already under construction since the spring of this year. Under the new plans, according to Minister O'Rourke, the first sod will not be turned on the Tallaght line until the summer of 2000 with the Sandyford line having to wait a further six months until the following winter.
The sums I was taught at school say that this is a delay of two years for the Tallaght line and at least two and a half years for the Sandyford line. Furthermore, the line from Sandyford will not serve the city centre as Ms O'Donnell claims, but will terminate at St Stephen's Green, according to Minister O'Rourke. The extension to the city centre will have to await the completion of the tunnel being pushed by Minister O'Rourke and the Progressive Democrats for which there is no known time-scale.
Although the previous Government had suspended work on the northern line through Drumcondra to Ballymun, EU intervention forced it to reconsider its position. As a result, cash was allocated for detailed planning and progress on this is now well in hand. Construction work would certainly have commenced even before the first two lines were running.
Under the O'Rourke/PD rehash there is no time-scale whatever for the northern line. It is not even certain if it will serve Drumcondra as the vague suggestion of its emerging from the bowels of the earth at Broadstone and using the abandoned railway right-of-way from there, will bring it far to the west of Drumcondra. Whatever its ultimate route, its completion will be several years later than the DTI plans that the Minister and her friends have aborted.
As for the extension of the Tallaght line from Mid. Abbey St to Connolly, this would have come about very quickly, by public demand, when the initial lines were operational and their convenience and benefits realised - as has happened in other cities.
Indeed, all of the ideas emanating from the O'Rourke/PD brainsbust - with the obvious exception of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce tunnel - would have been an inevitable follow-on from the initial system, but at a much earlier date. Instead, we are now faced with a two-year-plus delay for a castrated version of the original DTI plan and anything beyond that is a totally unknown surmise.
So, please, Ms O'Donnell, spare us the nonsense of your "without delay" statement, unless you are prepared to qualify it with an explanation that in Progressive Democrat parlance it means a minimum of two years "plus". - Yours, etc., Joseph Walker,
Churchtown, Dublin 14.