The Mirror
April 15, 2005, Friday

IRISH DAILY MIRROR COMMENT: GET METRO ON TRACK

THE EUR20billion plan to create a 21st century public transport
network for Dublin is well timed.

After the absolute chaos caused by one lorry accident yesterday, it
is beyond doubt the capital’s salvation lies in modern trains, buses
and trams.

The 1.25million people who live in Dublin are crying out for an
efficient metro system.

It is the only capital in Europe, East and West, without an
underground.

It is shameful and a sorry indictment of successive governments who
have failed to invest in public transport.

At a time when even those in charge of the capital of
poverty-stricken Armenia are building a metro, it is especially
embarrassing for our Government that Dublin doesn’t have one.

The decision to build a wide-ranging, all-encompassing underground
rail system in Dublin must be made post-haste.

It cannot be piece-meal, deciding to build one section at a time. It
must be built in its entirety at the same time.

Bertie Ahern has promised – in this paper – to build a metro for
Dublin by 2016.

His pledge – if fulfilled – will be remembered forever by the people
of Dublin as the single initiative that saved the historic capital
from decades of chaos and degeneration.

There can be no more dithering. Sign the cheque now. Secure the
capital’s future prosperity, whatever the cost.