More of them died in the regional hospital who would otherwise have survived in a major teaching hospital.
Lack of trains and lack of catering on trains.
- Thread starter ArthurMcB
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Hyperbole is just a synonym for BS exaggeration, and I clearly identified it as such.
You miss the point that a quality train service greatly increases the effective size of a locality, thereby greatly expanding access to education and employment options for people of all ages.
Take for example my town in Meath- if the Navan rail line is ever actually delivered that will bring all the Dublin colleges (with the possible exception of UCD) within reasonable daily commuting distances as compared to the hell of trying to do the same distances by bus (a hell I know from experience and will never do again) and the expense and discomfort of driving (again, something I know from personal experience and will never do again). That would I expect greatly increase the likelihood of my child wanting to stay local without drastically restricting their third level options (assuming of course they even want to go to third level).
It's similarly difficult to see how, for example, being able to travel the 132km from Letterkenny to Sligo in an hour and 20 minutes by train rather than 2 hours by car would do anything other than improve the attractiveness of Letterkenny as a place to live. And averaging 100kph isn't an unreasonable expectation of a brand new 21st century trainline unless they decide to put stations in every 5km en-route to make sure the train's top speed is only theoretical....
I'm not convinced a 300km journey to hospital is entirely reasonable.
It does nothing to affect the effective size of an locality, it simply offers an alternative transport method to other localities, and one which in most cases is less convenient than driving.
That will be a 2h trip to Belfield, there are already bus options doing it in less and driving is quicker again. A 4 hour commute is not a good college experience for anyone.
My wife's family is from Virginia, nieces and nephews approaching college age are looking forward to getting away, it's the natural order in quiet locations, teenagers consider them boring. A train service that takes 2 hours to get to Dublin doesn't make them want to stay there.
Most of the people around there already work in Dublin, similarly in Navan, look at the volumes of traffic coming onto the M3 there every morning.
Google tells me the typical drive time is 90 minutes. Regardless, it might influence a few who can't or don't drive and live within a short walk of the station and only want to travel to places within a short walk of Sligo station. The reality is the majority would need to drive to the station or get a lift, then once in Sligo they'd need another transport option to get them to their destination.
I'm from Kilkenny, my elderly parents with their free travel visit Waterford for a day out on occasion, they would never countenance getting the train when the car gets them door to door in less time and with less fuss. I'd consider it a fine place to live now, but I'm old and boring, I couldn't wat to get out when I was young.
My son spent a year commuting from south Dublin to Maynooth. Door to door the Bus took between 1.5 and 2 hours each way. The train took longer. There's no way students are going to commute from Navan to Dublin each day.
Either am I. That's why I choose not to live 300km from a hospital.
That said if I was given the option of a 300km journey for a life saving procedure with a high probability of success or having the same procedure done locally by a far less skilled team in a far less suitable hospital then I'd opt for the 300km journey.
We compete internationally for doctors, particularly at the top end, and they are as greedy and ambitious as anyone else. If you are being treated by a doctor in a small regional hospital the likelihood is that they there because they weren't good enough to get job is a large teaching hospital.
I know a number of doctors and they want to move out of Dublin because like everyone else they don't want to pay Dublin property prices and do that commute if they don't have to.
I think the issue is people are cherry picking their most familiar routes and the ones that are familiar pain points.
Very hard to do direct comparisons as a result. Meath to Dublin has the issue of M3/M50 traffic. Other routes might not have that issue and have indirect train line or a direct bus with bus lane..
Dublin 15 has been hampered by poor frequency and capacity of is train line for decades. A train line itself is not a magic bullet.
Donegal 'forgotten county' in terms of rail, Dáil hears
Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty has told the Dáil it is "simply unacceptable" that Donegal is among a few counties on the island of Ireland which still has no rail network, describing it as "a forgotten county".
Timely.
Talk is cheap. Especially in politics.
The data doesn't agree with you.
The good news for your doctor friends is that there is a big shortage of doctors in rural Ireland. GP's literally have money thrown at them by the State to try to get them to work in rural areas. (It's funny how with doctors and nurses money it never the problem but more of it is always the solution).
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Ironic, since it was his bosses that were the cause off the problem when their 35 year murderous campaign of terror isolated Donegal from most of its hinterland.
And even less chance someone will commute to Dublin from Letterkenny!
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Parking the train debate for a second, there is a strong case for rapidly adding to the dual-carriageway/motorway network around the island, something that's been neglected for the last decade. There are a few examples where more efficient road connectivity would solve the transport links issue in some parts of the country for another generation, giving more time to strategically plan for a train network.
Examples:
1) N25 Enniscorthy-Rosslare
2) N20 Cork-Limerick
3) A6 Magherafelt-Derry
4) N2/A5 Ardee-Letterkenny/Derry
5) N3/A509 Kells-Enniskillen:
The routes above would service those parts of the island which have little or no train network. Granted there has been a knockback from the courts on the A5 project but this should only embolden the likes of SF to make this their 'champion' infrastructure goal, chasing practical and realistic solutions instead of ratcheting up needless and petty tension in the Dail. And while those solutions are being thought about, the Ardee-Monaghan and Lifford-Letterkenny side of the project would continue.
Examples:
1) N25 Enniscorthy-Rosslare
2) N20 Cork-Limerick
3) A6 Magherafelt-Derry
4) N2/A5 Ardee-Letterkenny/Derry
5) N3/A509 Kells-Enniskillen:
The routes above would service those parts of the island which have little or no train network. Granted there has been a knockback from the courts on the A5 project but this should only embolden the likes of SF to make this their 'champion' infrastructure goal, chasing practical and realistic solutions instead of ratcheting up needless and petty tension in the Dail. And while those solutions are being thought about, the Ardee-Monaghan and Lifford-Letterkenny side of the project would continue.