Madam, – Frank McDonald’s use of the phrases “quite so pathetic”, “buckling under pressure”, “shameful spectacle” in relation to the opposition to the 30km/h speed limit in central Dublin from his pulpit in The Irish Times (Opinion, February 25th) is personally insulting to me as the individual most associated with resistance to this unreasonable and oppressive measure.
I will try to persuade as many elected members of Dublin City Council as I can to bin this excessive restriction. Of the other recent city transport changes, the bike scheme was supported by the vast majority, including me, in the council against opposition to the advertising signs that funded the initiative.
The College Green Busgate should be revisited to seek a better engineering alternative, if available. Certainly, its introduction should have been phased to monitor the effects. I proposed that it be confined at first to the morning rush hour, but was outvoted. My plan would have avoided the angst of city-centre businesses who blamed Busgate, whether correctly or not, as a major factor in the fall-off in footfall late last year.
I support pedestrianisation of appropriate streets, wider footpaths and pedestrian priority at crossings but J-walking and illegal cycling behaviour should be discouraged in the interests of safety. Forcing cars away will just kill the city centre. I am entirely self-driven on these issues. My record in standing for unpopular vote-losing services in the drug clinic and telecommunications areas is well known and contrasts starkly with Labour in my area. To paraphrase Margaret Thatcher “Bill is not for turning”. – Yours, etc,