Have I missed something? Where did anyone criticise public sector workers or accuse civil service workers of sitting on their backsides? Now you are the one starting the whole thing up again. It's like a version of Godwin's law at this stage
Not really, it's just a small attempt (operative word) at humour given the disposition of the natives to start looking for heads to roll and people to blame for any issue. Tongue in cheek like. Given the PS and CS have been the whipping boys/girls for the last 18 months I thought I'd throw it in. If people seriously take it up as bait to have a go at the PS or CS then they probably need this inability to travel to take the time out to reflect on themselves.
I really don't know if those who grit our roads are more or less efficient than those who grit the roads in Stockholm or Munich and I don't want to even start that argument. Nor for that matter do I want to have a go at our planners or our politicians.
What I do think needs to be pointed out - over and over again - is that we have chosen to organise ourselves in this country in a certain way.
We have chosen to have a preponderance of semi-detached housing estates in the suburbs, with relatively low population density in our city centres.
Within those housing estates, we have decided that an "organic" (no -don't ask me how it looks organic; truly I don't know) street layout, so that there are curves and cul-de sacs all over and a relative dearth of main\spine distributor roads on which public transport services ( and gritting services) can be easily concentrated.
We have chosen to allow people build on their land in rural areas, leading to a very dispersed settlement pattern. I should say that I do not necessarily oppose this policy: I merely make the observation that having chosen this way of organising our lives, we must accept the consequences.
Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that our public sector workers are in fact at least as good and efficient as those of Stockholm or Munich; the reality is that we are asking them to work in a physical environment where they simply cannot deliver the same level of service to the citizenry. This is not the fault of politicians: we have exactly the sort of dispersed country that we wanted; if there is a serious change of public opinion on the wisdom of past planning policy, this may change ( over the course of perhaps two generations). But we weren't codded into our present situation. As a people, this is exactly what we asked for.
I know what you're saying MOB but, in fairness, I don't think 'we' chose a lot of these things. They were forced on us by corrupt politicians, developers and Co Councillors in many cases. Most of us would have preferred much stricter and properly enforced planning regulations that wouldn't see so many people scattered around outer suburbs or living in isolation while City Centres and Towns remain largely unpopulated and turn into 'no go' areas at night time.
Not if it snows again!
Here's the reality of a gritting operation;
[broken link removed]
I know what you're saying MOB but, in fairness, I don't think 'we' chose a lot of these things.
You try driving a double decker on black ice....Dublin Bus drivers don't get paid nearly enough for that! It was ONE day that all services were cancelled, an unprecendented event due to extreme conditions, every other day has had almost full services with minor diversions.
You try driving a double decker on black ice....Dublin Bus drivers don't get paid nearly enough for that! It was ONE day that all services were cancelled, an unprecendented event due to extreme conditions, every other day has had almost full services with minor diversions.
how is 1 inch of snow "extreme" conditions exactly?
if a driver cant cope with that I really dont think I would want to employ him/her.
I would bet that our typical cold snap - where there is a very slight thaw most days - probably produces more dangerous driving conditions than you would see in those countries where the snow stays powder-dry and the temperature never gets above freezing over the winter period.
the xmas ham thats Id just collected went spinning across the carpark like it was rocket propelled
Yawn.All buses in Dublin stopped now.. It appears the various radio shows are now devoting hours to it as Dublin is affected.
No such coverage when it was just Donegal, Galway, Sligo and Leitrim that was affected.
Ireland certainly ends at the edge of The Pale!
All buses in Dublin stopped now.. It appears the various radio shows are now devoting hours to it as Dublin is affected.
No such coverage when it was just Donegal, Galway, Sligo and Leitrim that was affected.
Ireland certainly ends at the edge of The Pale!
If it's any consolation, the area of England in which I live had 1000 schools closed today. Mind you, there were over two inches of snow on the drive so I guess that's some excuse.
I can remember walking to school in Coventry in the winter of 1947 when the snow was feet deep; I can also remember going to work in the winter of 1962/3 when it was also a bit deep.
I wonder if it's fear of the compensation culture or just the need to sensationalise everything by the media.
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