Sir, – Frank McNally was almost generous in An Irishman’s Diary (January 18th) when he described the service provided by AA Roadwatch as “not entirely useless”. While we appreciate that the piece was written with gentle humour there are many motorists across the country who can easily answer his question.
On that same Wednesday morning there were three crashes on the M50 and numerous calls, texts and tweets were fielded by AA staff advising motorists on alternative routes and on delays. There is no doubt that the information provided was needed and appreciated.
In addition to the broadcast reports which are necessarily short, as McNally noted the service also provides very detailed information on its website and via Twitter where it has some 25,000 followers.
McNally also repeats what has become a modern Irish cliché about the “AA Roadwatch” accent. This taunt will not go away even though the Dubs in the current team are outnumbered by their colleagues from Kerry, Clare, Wicklow, Louth and even Frank McNally’s native Co Monaghan.
I suppose that in the same way that John Wayne will always be pictured wearing a cowboy hat, AA Roadwatch will always carry that tag. Still we are grateful that Frank McNally is complimentary about the service, even in a “roundabyte” way. – Yours, etc,