Ireland on Track?

Transport21 Fan

The time has come.

Currently there is no national rail lobby with a high-profile beyond internet message boards. There is a very real need for a rail lobby which is willing to engage and cultivate relationships with the media and politicans.

As it currently stand, after Barry Kenny, Brian Guckian is the most famous and well known spokesperson on railtransport on this island. No matter what one thinks of his plans, you have to give Guckian credit for grafting and getting into the regional and national media on a regular baisis. I even overheard two guys talking about his Light Rail ideas in a coffee shop in Galway a few weeks back. Now that's getting your message out. He is seriously media savy and deserves credit for this if nothing else.

What's needed is an national entity (perhaps all Ireland) organisation with the same approach and work ethic, but which puts forward the most achievable and badly needed rail projects. All it takes is a small group of people willing to make phone calls, set action plans and most importantly follow it though.

The "_____onTrack" brand is a proven success and I suspect MeathonTrack took inspiration from the name and that group's non-internet message board profile is very good too. Would probably be the best name all things considered.

I would also suggest that if anybody is starting an IrelandonTrack that they set up shop in the West of Ireland as this provides access to administration funding, even stuff like having a Irish language message page on your site gets you money from O'Cuivs department. I am the secretary of a community organisation here in Sligo and there are grants for everything. Not only can you make these things self-financing, you can also turn a profit. I was talking to one group in Westport who has 30,000 euro in the bank they never spent. There is money and resources out there if you know how to work the system. It's scary how much cash and clerical resources avilable for organisations and advocacy groups.

If anybody out there is thinking of running with this idea, then go for it. I am not interested in this stuff myself, but it would be great if somebody with a bit of ambition was. Once rail has a non-Dempsey/non-British voice in this country that's all that matters. Ireland needs a profile-hungry, media-savy national rail lobby and there is a massive oppertunity there for anyone who wants to take it on.

This is a 100% serious post and not a troll - with the Midleton stagnation rail needs it more than ever. Groups like WoT and MoT can fight for their own turf, but were is the voice for the Midleton's and so on. Promoting rail as a major environmental issue is untapped on a national level as well. This is where a national lobby would be of prime importance. Could bring all these ideas together to the widest possible constituency.

Victor

Transport21 Fan wrote:

Currently there is no national rail lobby with a high-profile beyond internet message boards.

Then what are you doing here?

I'll leave this thread for the moment. However, it sounds like another baggage wagon.

Transport21 Fan

Victor wrote:

Then what are you doing here?

Increasing my carbon footprint.

Victor wrote:

I'll leave this thread for the moment. However, it sounds like another baggage wagon.

You're probably right, but my point still stands.

dermo88

Whistles through teeth

Sighs

(and if you know the body language, this is the Asian way of saying no)

Pat on back, buy a cyber pint.

Now.....emotions are somewhat hard to express over the internet, but I'll do my best. I detected the first signs of trouble on another post. I think you and Derek are fairly level headed. I've gone in a few times myself, but ultimately, I'm only a hurler in a ditch who is really no better than the Brit bunch. But I'll admit that. Not many will.

I don't know whats going on here, but I can't say I am happy. Of course, we are going to disagree. I disagree with Brian Guckian simply because he wants and proposes Z before A, B and C are done, and while I would like Z, we obviously need A, B and C first. Now, I hate using these nasty algebraic analogies, but I am sure you get the idea. Z represents railways in Monaghan and Donegal, and A, B and C represent Midleton, Navan and Interconnector, and whatever else there is in densely populated areas.

The road lobby have AA Roadwatch, the AA, and a load of car dealerships. The rail lobby are the RPSI, IRRS, ITG, Irishrailwaynews, and for the first time ever, Platform11. Now, thanks to the Internet, a bit of education, some fashion sense, a bit more good publicity, jeans, t-shirts, Dolce and Gabbana, against Corduroy and Cordoniu there is a slight possibility that it will work well.

Platform11 have worked well, but I am terrified that they will end up demoralised and shattered through a combination of overload and pressure.

If you've fallen out with Derek, I regret that, simply because in many ways, you, he, and I and many others shared the same outlook. What Brian Guckian wants is beautiful, but and it looks nice, it looks attractive, and it can attract tourists, but it can do no more. We (collectively) have been scammed by this pseudo West African 419 scam called Transport 21, which is no more than another pile of promises on the long finger that will drive another generation to car dealerships. Derek wants out of the whole sordid mess knowing that, and hes got a headache as a result.

If we could condense all the pages written on transport over the past 70 years in Ireland, I have no doubt, through some mysterious chemical formula there would be enough material to relay every lost branchline, and reinstate proper services throughout.

But I need only quote Niall Toibin. "Shall we have the division first, or shall we talk". This is the nature of debate. At the moment, 5% of Irish people use trains on a regular basis. Thats what we are up against. I'll stand by you as a mate, and I'll stand by those in P11 as well because their vision matches my own.