JERRY KIERSEY,
Sir, - I refer to the various comments regarding the height of the Dublin Port Tunnel. The bulk of goods on our roads are being carried by trucks from the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland or Britain. These trucks travel on the motorway networks of our largest trading partner and on our own growing motorway network with ease, operating to a height limit of 5.5 metres.
Why Dublin Corporation has decided to create an extension to this network that imposes a height restriction of less than 4.65 metres deserves immediate investigation.
The explanations to date from the Corporation are not acceptable and the Minister for the Environment should order an immediate halt to work on the tunnel until the position is clarified. The view that a tunnel at this height is better than no tunnel does no service to those seeking to reduce the costs of our imports and exports, which will bear the cost of this mistake for the lifetime of the tunnel.
The affair highlights the attitude of Dublin Corporation to the flow of goods through our Capital. It has constantly worked in a vacuum, imposing solution after solution without any reference to those charged with carrying goods.
It has received letters from many bodies as far back as January 2000 requesting a review of the height of the Port Tunnel, which it has ignored.
The solution is a single Ministry of Transport charged with uniform standards in all aspects of our infrastructure. - Yours, etc.,
JERRY KIERSEY,
Chairman,
Transport Umbrella
Group (TUG),
Dublin Port,
Vernon Avenue,
Dublin 3.