A heavy feature of politics in Ireland is the subject on which there is absolute consensus amongst the great and the good. There are dozens of such subjects, but few that are as entirely unchallenged as the view that building more roads – especially in or around Dublin – is bad.
In fairness, the anti-road-building consensus has a solid argument against it that makes sense when you hear it first: That when you build a new road or widen or improve an existing one, all that happens is that more people start driving on it and the very congestion you were hoping to alleviate returns with a vengeance. Thus, the very sensible Irish governing class member will always sternly warn against roadbuilding, and revert to arguments instead for massive public transport schemes: More and better busses, trams, rail links, and so on. The result is that the country finds itself involved in endless daydreaming about massively expensive new transport boondoggles: A Metro here; a high speed rail link there; electric busses everywhere. Throw in some left wing politics and you’ll find that “free public transport for all” gets a regular airing.
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