Galway's traffic issues

Johnny_BravoIII

[Deleted User] wrote: »

F**k me. The Galway City forum is stuck in a serious time loop
I swear this thread, and almost identical posts come up every few months.

Can we have one thread for people to talk about traffic, and have a blanket rule across the forum that traffic, and infrastructure cannot be discussed in any other threads.

I haven't been part of previous discussions on here. I returned to Galway in the last to year to find a place completely choked and increasingly polluted.

IMO traffic is the no 1 challenge facing the future of the city. For example, how can you be serious about redeveloping the docklands, or in fact, any plans to increase employment without a plan for getting people to and from work?
This traffic is the bottleneck for the continued growth of the city.

But yet there are no signs that those in power understand whats required. The recent traffic proposals contain nothing which indicates a plan to implement best practice globally.

Whether or not less cars works is no longer a debatable issues. There are 100's of examples of citys who have successfully reduced traffic and incurred massive human and economic benefits from doing so.

Its going to happen here. There is no other path. Its just bonkers that we haven't seen any plans for it yet. It just means that we will most likely suffer 20 years of stagnation and traffic before the penney drops.

Business that are going to generate large employment should be going nowhere near the city centre though. They should be well outside the city away from the traffic that has to get into the city, where they can build sufficient offices/plants which lots of parking etc.

The motorways we have open up so much for development. A location like where Apple were to locate their data centre would be such an ideal location for a large employer. No city traffic, right off the motorway opening up the opportunity for people to live anywhere from Athlone to Limerick to Tuam to the east side of the city and everything in between and easily commute to work.

John_Rambo

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

Business that are going to generate large employment should be going nowhere near the city centre though. They should be well outside the city away from the traffic that has to get into the city, where they can build sufficient offices/plants which lots of parking etc.

The motorways we have open up so much for development. A location like where Apple were to locate their data centre would be such an ideal location for a large employer. No city traffic, right off the motorway opening up the opportunity for people to live anywhere from Athlone to Limerick to Tuam to the east side of the city and everything in between and easily commute to work.

Large tech companies coming to Ireland want to be in cities. The staff don't want to be driving to and from work, they want to live in nice apartments in cities or houses close to the city, they want to walk, cycle or take short public transport hops to work and if they have cars they use them during the weekend or use go-car.

I have friends with eyewatering saleries in Google, Linkedin and Facebook, and bar a few, they don't have cars. The ones that do use them at the weekend only. They live in the city or on the DART or LUAS lines. The less payed employees don't want to burn money on cars, tax, the shocking insurance quotes that they face when they move here, motor maintenance etc... they spend their money on rent, restaurants, travel, sports, the gym, activities and general lifestyle and R&R. And they want it all close by. The older ones that have kids are buying in nice areas well serviced by public transport or cycle lanes.

Most of the people I know are educated multilingual professionals heading up various departments (Italian, German, Portuguese etc...) arms of the companies. They have no interest in working in an out-of-town business estate with no restaurants, cafés or cultural amenities.

The employers know this, and they're willing to pay the extra money to lease or buy city centre locations. They're often paying employees rent too.

I know this doesn't suit you, but it's the reality of the situation. The Apple data centre site was perfect for a data centre, but not an employee hub.

John_Rambo

John_Rambo wrote: »

Large tech companies coming to Ireland want to be in cities. The staff don't want to be driving to and from work, they want to live in nice apartments in cities or houses close to the city, they want to walk, cycle or take short public transport hops to work and if they have cars they use them during the weekend or use go-car.

What are you basing this on? You are just making it up. I work in tech and don’t want to live in a city, as I work in tech I know lots of others who do so in various different fields and a lot live rurally some don’t but the vast majority drive to work.

A city Centre is not suitable for large plants, there isn’t the space. Thousands of people already work in science and technology jobs outside cities, Galway in particular and People have no problem driving to work in them. Cork is similar the vast majority of employment in highly skilled tech areas are well outside the city some the equivalent of as far or further than athenry is from galway and no issues with attracting staff and most are expanding. You claims simply don’t ring true.

All you are thinking of is some people coming in from abroad you are forgetting the thousands of Irish people working in tech, pharma, medical devices etc who want to live where they are from (often rurally) not in Dublin or other cities. With our motorway network having large employers outside the cities and away from the worst traffic opens up the opportunity for people to commute longer distance very quickly and live in the places they want.

John_Rambo wrote: »

I have friends with eyewatering saleries in Google, Linkedin and Facebook, and bar a few, they don't have cars. The ones that do use them at the weekend only. They live in the city or on the DART or LUAS lines. The less payed employees don't want to burn money on cars, tax, the shocking insurance quotes that they face when they move here, motor maintenance etc... they spend their money on rent, restaurants, travel, sports, the gym, activities and general lifestyle and R&R. And they want it all close by. The older ones that have kids are buying in nice areas well serviced by public transport or cycle lanes.

Most of the people I know are educated multilingual professionals heading up various departments (Italian, German, Portuguese etc...) arms of the companies. They have no interest in working in an out-of-town business estate with no restaurants, cafor cultural amenities.

The employers know this, and they're willing to pay the extra money to lease or buy city centre locations. They're often paying employees rent too.

I know this doesn't suit you, but it's the reality of the situation. The Apple data centre site was perfect for a data centre, but not an employee hub.

This is all nonsense as I could throw back just as many people who don’t want to live in cities, on big salaries that drive luxury cars and drive to work while living in large houses out the country. Also what has Dublin got to do with Galway? You haven’t a clue about the reality of things at all.

Mrs OBumble

Pinch Flat wrote: »

Well, it is. Using a 20% full car to navigate medieval streets is simply not a best of roads and unsustainable. It's pretty evident any time I visit there anyway.

Let me try again.

Most people who drive in Galway go nowhere near the medieval city-centre streets.

They come from Mayo / Roscommon / North county Galway - down the Headford or Tuam Rds, thru a corner of the city and out into the county again at Parkmore.

Or from Clare / Limerick / South or East county Galway - up the coast road or on the motorway, thru a different corner of the city and out into the county again at Parkmore.

Or from Knocknacarra / Barna / Moycullen / Clifden / Oughterard, across the Quin Bridge and into the estates in Liosbaun / Mervue / Ballybrit - and some even make it out to Parkmore.

Only sunny days, or for big GAA matches, they converge on Salthill. At Christmas they shop in the city centre (though in decreasing numbers each year) - this is the only time most get near the city centre in their cars - and when it happens, it causes gridlock. (Best way to fix this: a promenadable beach on the east of the city.


Of course there are exceptions to these trends: people who drive from Knockers to Parkmore, peoiple who work in the city-centre. People who have to drive from whereever to the only postal depot in the city (thank goodness for Parcel Motel reducing our dependency on this!).

Very often in summer, if there's near gridlock on the main roads, I walk the last section from my job in Parkmore to my city-centre apartment - and find that the streets here in the middle are empty.

RainNeverBow

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Let me try again.

Most people who drive in Galway go nowhere near the medieval city-centre streets.

They come from Mayo / Roscommon / North county Galway - down the Headford or Tuam Rds, thru a corner of the city and out into the county again at Parkmore.

Or from Clare / Limerick / South or East county Galway - up the coast road or on the motorway, thru a different corner of the city and out into the county again at Parkmore.

Or from Knocknacarra / Barna / Moycullen / Clifden / Oughterard, across the Quin Bridge and into the estates in Liosbaun / Mervue / Ballybrit - and some even make it out to Parkmore.

Only sunny days, or for big GAA matches, they converge on Salthill. At Christmas they shop in the city centre (though in decreasing numbers each year) - this is the only time most get near the city centre in their cars - and when it happens, it causes gridlock. (Best way to fix this: a promenadable beach on the east of the city.


Of course there are exceptions to these trends: people who drive from Knockers to Parkmore, peoiple who work in the city-centre. People who have to drive from whereever to the only postal depot in the city (thank goodness for Parcel Motel reducing our dependency on this!).

Very often in summer, if there's near gridlock on the main roads, I walk the last section from my job in Parkmore to my city-centre apartment - and find that the streets here in the middle are empty.

Sorry but you're factually wrong data has proven that most of the city's traffic originates within the city limits and is going to somewhere within the city. Over 90% in fact.

And you know why the streets are less busy during the summer? Because people walk more and use their car less, magic

John_Rambo

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

What are you basing this on? You are just making it up.

I didn't make up the fact that Google, Facebook, Accenture, Airbnb, TripAdvisor, Indeed, Amazon, Linkedin, Dropbox, SurveyMonkey, Groupon, Arista, Twitter, HubSpot, Yelp, ZOO Digital & Bamboo and dozens of others have chosen city centre locations above rural locations in Ireland!!

Is the company you currently work for based in Galway city?

Mrs OBumble

RainNeverBow wrote: »

Sorry but you're factually wrong data has proven that most of the city's traffic originates within the city limits and is going to somewhere within the city. Over 90% in fact.

And you know why the streets are less busy during the summer? Because people walk more and use their car less, magic

Do you have a link for that research, please.

And do you know when schools are on holiday???

Johnny_BravoIII

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

This is all nonsense as I could throw back just as many people who don’t want to live in cities, on big salaries that drive luxury cars and drive to work while living in large houses out the country. Also what has Dublin got to do with Galway? You haven’t a clue about the reality of things at all.

In most well planned countries the people living in large country houses are farmers. Im afraid the cat is out of the bag here. We have encouraged a culture here where everybody feels entitled to live in a large country house. IMO the countryside has been destroyed in the last 30 years.
Its almost impossible to stand anywhere in Ireland and not be able to see houses. There are bungalows sprayed across the west coast of ireland. On the side of mountains, in bogs, in floodplains etc. Rural communities should be encouraged to live in rural villages. Its better for peoples mental health Also it makes sense from an infrastructure perepective. Think about hot topics such as, school buses, rural broadband, drink-driving limits.

There is a generation of retired irish people stranded in their one-off bungalow due to drink driving laws. Its not pretty.

I see families in their high-vis with buggies and bikes dodging fast moving traffic on rural boreens.

The way we do things currently makes no sense. There is always resistence to change but we need to bite the bullet.

We dont do this through banning cars etc. We begin by encouring people to live in urban or village environments. This means making our cities better places to live. This means getting the cars out of Galway.

Other examples, Copenhagen, Oslo,

Mrs OBumble

John_Rambo wrote: »

I didn't make up the fact that Google, Facebook, Accenture, Airbnb, TripAdvisor, Indeed, Amazon, Linkedin, Dropbox, SurveyMonkey, Groupon, Arista, Twitter, HubSpot, Yelp, ZOO Digital & Bamboo and dozens of others have chosen city centre locations above rural locations in Ireland!!

Is the company you currently work for based in Galway city?

Yeah but ...

Medtronic
Boston Scientific
Creganna
Merit Medical
Abbott
.... and all the suppliers to them, smaller companies that you've never heard of but some are significant.

EA Games
SAP
Rehab Recycle
Fidelity
HP
APC
Oracle
IBM
Thermo King
Avaya
Cisco

John_Rambo

John_Rambo wrote: »

I didn't make up the fact that Google, Facebook, Accenture, Airbnb, TripAdvisor, Indeed, Amazon, Linkedin, Dropbox, SurveyMonkey, Groupon, Arista, Twitter, HubSpot, Yelp, ZOO Digital & Bamboo and dozens of others have chosen city centre locations above rural locations in Ireland!!

Is the company you currently work for based in Galway city?

And just as many or more are not in the city. There are a lot in Dublin and surroundings like Intel, Kerry groups high tech Centre and I could spend a long time listing more.

Look at MrsOB’s list for a good example in Galway, and you can add Valeo in Tuam a large employer in very high end tech, tuam is about as unattractive a place you could base yourself. in fact there is almost no big employer in tech or science in the city (bar the university). It’s simply unsuitable.

I could make a very long list for Cork also if I had time, again where there are virtually no big employers in what is considered the city and many are pretty much in the country side completely miles and miles from the city.

I currently work in the outskirts of the city but will shortly be moving further out to larger premises.

Johnny_BravoIII wrote: »

In most well planned countries the people living in large country houses are farmers. Im afraid the cat is out of the bag here. We have encouraged a culture here where everybody feels entitled to live in a large country house. IMO the countryside has been destroyed in the last 30 years.
Its almost impossible to stand anywhere in Ireland and not be able to see houses. There are bungalows sprayed across the west coast of ireland. On the side of mountains, in bogs, in floodplains etc. Rural communities should be encouraged to live in rural villages. Its better for peoples mental health Also it makes sense from an infrastructure perepective. Think about hot topics such as, school buses, rural broadband, drink-driving limits.

There is a generation of retired irish people stranded in their one-off bungalow due to drink driving laws. Its not pretty.

I see families in their high-vis with buggies and bikes dodging fast moving traffic on rural boreens.

The way we do things currently makes no sense. There is always resistence to change but we need to bite the bullet.

We dont do this through banning cars etc. We begin by encouring people to live in urban or village environments. This means making our cities better places to live. This means getting the cars out of Galway.

Other examples, Copenhagen, Oslo,

I don’t buy any of that to be honest. The country side is a place to be lived in not admired by city dwellers on a day trip. Things like rural broadband should simply just be provided end of story then it wouldn’t be an issue.

The last place most want to live are villages, I live rurally and older people love their rural locations. The issues around drunk driving could easily be sorted sign a rural bus service at weekends.

You make the whole walking a buggy in the country sound a lot worse than reality, I grew up rurally and would never even consider anything but a rural upbringing for my own kids.

As for mental health I’d argue the total opposite, living in the country side is far far better and people are “alone and isolated” in most instances. Families group around each other where they all build there houses and around the home house, people have proper sized houses built how they want them, plenty of space around and live beside family which is a great way to live for many.

xckjoo

Valeo have huge issues attracting and retaining staff, despite the university churning out graduates nearly tailor made for them. Main reason I've heard is the location.

xckjoo

xckjoo wrote: »

Valeo have huge issues attracting and retaining staff, despite the university churning out graduates nearly tailor made for them. Main reason I've heard is the location.

They are a very good employer of local people in my experience. I know quite a few working there and the location is ideal for people from and living around country Galway. An effortless commute etc. even people commuting out from the city have an easy commute going against traffic both ways.

John_Rambo

The largest employer in the country tried decentralisation and it was a disaster.

Say’s it all really.

John_Rambo

John_Rambo wrote: »

The largest employer in the country tried decentralisation and it was a disaster.

Say’s it all really.

The implementation was the problem the idea itself (spreading employment around the country) was a very good one and one that should be pushed in all areas, grants provided for it etc.

WallyGUFC

RainNeverBow wrote: »

Sorry but you're factually wrong data has proven that most of the city's traffic originates within the city limits and is going to somewhere within the city. Over 90% in fact.

And you know why the streets are less busy during the summer? Because people walk more and use their car less, magic

I find that very hard to believe.

xckjoo

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

They are a very good employer of local people in my experience. I know quite a few working there and the location is ideal for people from and living around north and east country Galway. An effortless commute etc. even people commuting out from the city have an easy commute going against traffic both ways.

I've literally the exact opposite experience. I did hear that they're a good employer of local people, but anybody I know qualified for the high skilled jobs just don't want to go there. And that's including people that did PhDs in partnership with them for 4+ years. They don't want to live in Tuam/county Galway and won't face the daily commute. The only people I know that do work for them are all from North Galway/Mayo already and want to live at home. Difficult for any company to rely on such a small population to fill high skilled jobs.

WallyGUFC

WallyGUFC wrote: »

I find that very hard to believe.

As do I considering the thousands of people who commute in from the country everyday.

Also the way they measure this is also going to be flawed for sure. Say going from knocknacara to parkmore is probably somehow fiddled into the numbers where as in reality that’s not really a city to city journey by any stretch of the imagination.

John_Rambo

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

The implementation was the problem the idea itself (spreading employment around the country) was a very good one and one that should be pushed in all areas, grants provided for it etc.

People don't want to be told where to live Nox, you say it yourself enough times.

xckjoo

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

As do I considering the thousands of people who commute in from the country everyday.

Also the way they measure this is also going to be flawed for sure. Say going from knocknacara to parkmore is probably somehow fiddled into the numbers where as in reality that’s not really a city to city journey by any stretch of the imagination.

You can't just decide the numbers that back up your opinion are completely valid and the others are inherently flawed, without actually dissecting the methodologies of either.

John_Rambo

John_Rambo wrote: »

People don't want to be told where to live Nox, you say it yourself enough times.

The idea should be to provide the jobs for the people who already live and want to live in different areas.

Mrs OBumble

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

The idea should be to provide the jobs for the people who already live and want to live in different areas.

Do we know why HID are moving from Spiddal in to either the city or just outside it (Parkmore)?

Is it lack of workforce, or can't they get a big enough building?

McTigs

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

The country side is a place to be lived in not admired by city dwellers on a day trip.

The city is a place to be lived in not clogged up by rural dwellers terrified of the slightest inconvenience

John_Rambo

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

The idea should be to provide the jobs for the people who already live and want to live in different areas.

Exactly, it's eventually dawning on you. And more people already live in cities than they do anywhere else. That’s why these companies like to carry out their business in cities, the skill base is already there. And the employees don’t want to be stuck out in a car dependent rural setting with no amenities.

Mrs OBumble

McTigs wrote: »

The city is a place to be lived in not clogged up by rural dwellers terrified of the slightest inconvenience

Thanks for finding this quote, I mrant to come back to it.

By definition the countryside is only sparsely lived in. If theres a house every few-00m, that's not countryside any more, it's semi-rural sprawl of the worst kind, because it makes the land no good for agriculture but prevents human economies of scale.

The only people who should be there are ones who need to be there because they work there, and immediate family.

grbear

Tuams a perfect example of a town with potential being choked by nimbyism and poor planning. A shopping centre built in a potentially great location but hamstrung by inadequate access and restrictions being placed on the size of the supermarket area meaning the likes of Tesco and Dunnes were never going to be anchor tenants. Now Aldi are looking to build beside it and there doesn't seem to be any talk of forcing a link up between themselves and the shopping centre operators. Moronic.

John_Rambo

John_Rambo wrote: »

Exactly, it's eventually dawning on you. And more people already live in cities than they do anywhere else. That’s why these companies like to carry out their business in cities, the skill base is already there. And the employees don’t want to be stuck out in a car dependent rural setting with no amenities.

Yet you totally ignore the long list of companies who are not situated in the city and where thousands of people work many commuting from the rural areas or towns where they live.

Nothing is dawning on me. Of course some people want to live in cities but lots do not. It should be ensured that there is a mix of work locations where people can live where they want (be it in a city or in their home area near family) and get to work conveniently.

I also cannot honestly see how you think it’s practical to have large increases of employment in Galway city, regardless of the fact that it really won’t suit large numbers of people working there but there simply isn’t space for it. The city should have shops, pubs etc not a factory or large office with say 5000 people working there which would make vastly more sense to be well outside the city and contrary to your constant ignoring of facts this is where big employers are setting themselves up for the most part. Just look back at the lists provided or look up the locations of all the pharma, medical and tech jobs in cork also if the large number of companies outside of Galway isn’t enough to convince you.

For the most part people earning good money do not want to be stuck in housing estates or apartments either, they want large houses with lots of space outside and not stuck up against their neighbors. This is why they move out of cities.

John_Rambo

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

Yet you totally ignore the long list of companies who are not situated in the city and where thousands of people work many commuting from the rural areas or towns where they live.

There are companies and factories perfectly suited to out of city sites. I never said there wasn’t.

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

Nothing is dawning on me. Of course some people want to live in cities but lots do not. It should be ensured that there is a mix of work locations where people can live where they want (be it in a city or in their home area near family) and get to work conveniently.

Obviously there should be jobs in rural areas. Farming, forestry, factories, quarries, production factories etc.. are the traditional mainstay in these areas.

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

I also cannot honestly see how you think it’s practical to have large increases of employment in Galway city, regardless of the fact that it really won’t suit large numbers of people working there but there simply isn’t space for it.

You honestly don’t think it’s practical to have large increases of employment in Galway City? It doesn’t “suit” it and there isn’t space? Give me a break Nox. The city’s are the big employers, any type of employment in the cities is good for the country

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

The city should have shops, pubs etc not a factory or large office with say 5000 people working there which would make vastly more sense to be well outside the city and contrary to your constant ignoring of facts this is where big employers are setting themselves up for the most part. Just look back at the lists provided or look up the locations of all the pharma, medical and tech jobs in cork also if the large number of companies outside of Galway isn’t enough to convince you.

A city is for people Nox. That’s what defines a city. Cities need jobs for the people. The pubs, shops etc need working people to support them.

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

For the most part people earning good money do not want to be stuck in housing estates or apartments either, they want large houses with lots of space outside and not stuck up against their neighbors. This is why they move out of cities.

That’s you Nox, and you’re not everyone. People want to live in communities with amenities for their families, schools, libraries, parks, restaurants, pubs etc…

xckjoo

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

Yet you totally ignore the long list of companies who are not situated in the city and where thousands of people work many commuting from the rural areas or towns where they live.

Nothing is dawning on me. Of course some people want to live in cities but lots do not. It should be ensured that there is a mix of work locations where people can live where they want (be it in a city or in their home area near family) and get to work conveniently.

I also cannot honestly see how you think it’s practical to have large increases of employment in Galway city, regardless of the fact that it really won’t suit large numbers of people working there but there simply isn’t space for it. The city should have shops, pubs etc not a factory or large office with say 5000 people working there which would make vastly more sense to be well outside the city and contrary to your constant ignoring of facts this is where big employers are setting themselves up for the most part. Just look back at the lists provided or look up the locations of all the pharma, medical and tech jobs in cork also if the large number of companies outside of Galway isn’t enough to convince you.

For the most part people earning good money do not want to be stuck in housing estates or apartments either, they want large houses with lots of space outside and not stuck up against their neighbors. This is why they move out of cities.

The further the jobs are from where the people live, the more travel required. The more travel required, the more traffic. To date, there's no solution that provides an unlimited bandwidth for cars on a road network and increasing road capacity seems to cause an even greater increase in traffic.

You say you work in tech, so think about it like any other network. We could have fiber lines blanketing the country, but if we were still using 1990's codecs, compression, OS's, etc., you'd feel like you're still on dial-up.



Also, pharma, biotech and any other company that manufactures and/or have large trucks coming and going, do not fall under the same umbrella as tech companies like Google and Facebook that require little beyond staff, a desk and internet access. Of course they're going to locate further out from congested cities where land is cheaper and access is easier. But they're also not going to locate in the back arse of nowhere because that doesn't suit their needs either. Why don't Medtronic move to North Galway since so many staff commute from there? Because they need infrastructure and infrastructure needs population density to be viable. A similar false equivalency would be for me to point out that all the most expensive land in the world is located within the major cities and tends to gets cheaper as you go further out. That must mean everyone wants to live as close to city centres as possible and the countryside is for people that can't afford it.

Johnny_BravoIII

Gwen Shallow Raccoon wrote: »

And just as many or more are not in the city. There are a lot in Dublin and surroundings like Intel, Kerry groups high tech Centre and I could spend a long time listing more.

Look at MrsOB’s list for a good example in Galway, and you can add Valeo in Tuam a large employer in very high end tech, tuam is about as unattractive a place you could base yourself. in fact there is almost no big employer in tech or science in the city (bar the university). It’s simply unsuitable.

I could make a very long list for Cork also if I had time, again where there are virtually no big employers in what is considered the city and many are pretty much in the country side completely miles and miles from the city.

I currently work in the outskirts of the city but will shortly be moving further out to larger premises.



I don’t buy any of that to be honest. The country side is a place to be lived in not admired by city dwellers on a day trip. Things like rural broadband should simply just be provided end of story then it wouldn’t be an issue.

The last place most want to live are villages, I live rurally and older people love their rural locations. The issues around drunk driving could easily be sorted sign a rural bus service at weekends.

You make the whole walking a buggy in the country sound a lot worse than reality, I grew up rurally and would never even consider anything but a rural upbringing for my own kids.

As for mental health I’d argue the total opposite, living in the country side is far far better and people are “alone and isolated” in most instances. Families group around each other where they all build there houses and around the home house, people have proper sized houses built how they want them, plenty of space around and live beside family which is a great way to live for many.

Do you believe there should be any limits on one-off housing?

I was raised in rural ireland. It was a wonderful childhood in the 1980s 1990s. We lived on a small boreen off a small road about 8k from town. We knew every car which passed on the road.

I would say rural Ireland is massively changed/gone. In the last 25 years there are approximately 50 new one-off bungalows built within a 3k radius of our previously rural house. Theres a massive influx of people moving from cities and towns to the countryside. We no longer know every car on the road and there is significant traffic on the boreens in the mornings and evenings.

We are seeing a rapid urbanisation of the countryside at historic speeds. Its out of control and needs to be managed.

The solution is to encourage people back into living in towns and cities. This means discriminating against people who have chosen to live rurally and commute by single occupant vehicle into the cities, in favor of those who decide to live and work in an urban environment.