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Ireland vs Portugal

  • 05-05-2011 11:27pm
    #1
    DWCommuter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,032 ✭✭✭


    A casual conversation that started about Portugal's bailout, with a Portuguese friend of mind tonight, ended in a very simple lesson for me. Here's what he said;

    "At least Portugal improved it's infrastructure to a very high standard."

    We discussed roads and railways, including Metros, light rail etc. He was proud of the fact that even though his country is being bailed out, they have something tangible to show for it. Of course when I reminded him of why he is living in Ireland, he respected the trade off.

    Portugal got physical benefits. Ireland got material wealth and lifestyle benefits. Ultimately the latter will fail us. Priorities were all wrong to sustain a long term vibrant economy. Portugal will recover before we do.


Comments

  • #2
    mgmt
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,361 ✭✭✭mgmt


    Didn't Portugal waste a bucket load on building unnecessary stadiums for Euro 2004.


  • #3
    Zebra3
    Registered Users Posts: 13,848 ✭✭✭✭Zebra3


    I was over in Portugal during Euro2004.

    IIRC, all the stadia they built came in at about half the cost of the new Wembley Stadium though some of them get very little use now-especially the one in the Algarve.

    The train between Lisbon and Porto was fantastic. We'll be all long dead before we see anything like it here. :(


  • #4
    ei.sdraob
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,376 ✭✭✭ei.sdraob


    The new motorway going down the middle of the country is quite good, cant say the same of portuguese drivers :P often driving in 2 lanes.
    Tho its tolled (at entrances) i think 20 euro algarve to lisbon also petrol was more expensive 1.50 last summer when it was cheaper here.


  • #5
    DWCommuter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,032 ✭✭✭DWCommuter


    mgmt wrote: »
    Didn't Portugal waste a bucket load on building unnecessary stadiums for Euro 2004.

    And your exact point is?

    Lets face it (and its very hard for those still in celtic tiger mode) we blew billions on tax cuts in an attempt to change lifestyles. We changed them alright. Therefore the typical Celtic Tiger mindset became one of being stuck in a massive traffic jam in a bank funded new car, while complaining about the lack of decent public transport on the way to a mortgaged house in Navan!

    Having researched both Greece and Portugal tonight, it is clear that they outstripped us on transport infrastructure.

    Ireland has absolutely nothing (in infrastructure terms) to show for being the strongest economy in Europe at one stage.


  • #6
    Tech3
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,010 ✭✭✭Tech3


    If we built 2+2's instead of S2 and WS2's in the boom we would have a fairly good road network. Now we have a few modern motorways but the rest of the national roads are mediocre. The WRC was a terrible waste too.


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  • #7
    dubhthach
    Registered Users Posts: 3,284 ✭✭✭dubhthach


    Tbh if they actually spent the money when it was supposed to have and had the motorways finished by 2006 then it would have been possible to at least start some of other projects (Dart Underground, Metro etc.). Instead the money was diverted to tax-breaks and benchmarking :rolleyes:


  • #8
    OurLadyofKnock
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 558 ✭✭✭OurLadyofKnock


    mgmt wrote: »
    Didn't Portugal waste a bucket load on building unnecessary stadiums for Euro 2004.

    Didn't Ireland waste billions on massive pay raises for the most incompetent public sector and civil servants in the history of the Western world?

    not to mention rotten bankers and property developments.


  • #9
    OurLadyofKnock
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 558 ✭✭✭OurLadyofKnock


    The issue is that they in Portugal the government and public transport operators would of looked at Tara Street (the most busy train station in the country) and developed it to ease passenger overcrowding and increase comfort with improved bus interchanges and not have only envisigned it with a bloody skyscraper half full of civil servants above it.

    I can still recall going to a Transport Summit in 2004 and the CIE managers showing photos of office buildings and talking about public transport improvements.


  • #10
    DWCommuter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,032 ✭✭✭DWCommuter


    OurLadyofKnock wrote: »
    The issue is that they in Portugal the government and public transport operators would of looked at Tara Street (the most busy train station in the country) and developed it to ease passenger overcrowding and increase comfort with improved bus interchanges and not have only envisigned it with a bloody skyscraper half full of civil servants above it.

    I can still recall going to a Transport Summit in 2004 and the CIE managers showing photos of office buildings and talking about public transport improvements.

    I think it may have been November 2003 when you taught that summit a lesson. It was a mixture of great ideas and ignorance. If Im not mistaken it was organised by a current Government party.


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