There has been some controversy over the expression that “Ireland is full” but on a basic infrastructure level that cannot be denied. The roads are full, the hospitals are full, the transport systems are full, the schools are full, the creches are full and even the prisons are bursting at the seams.
On the other hand the reservoirs are not full to the extent that when there are a few days without rain there’s a water shortage and threats of hose pipe bans. As for housing this and previous governments have been full of bull when it came to delivering their own modest targets and there’s little hope anything is going to change any time soon.
The reality is that Ireland’s population is around 5.4 million but the country has the infrastructure to support a nation of little more than 3.5 million people. The population of the Republic grew by nearly a third between 2002 and 2022 and is today easily the fastest growing population in Europe.
I believe there are few from these parts who have to commute by train or drive to Dublin each morning who will disagree that the country’s infrastructure is not fit to serve such a large population. So too will those who recently had to wait in ambulances outside the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital because the emergency department couldn’t cope with the sheer numbers presenting for treatment.
Last year the Irish Mirror reported that 4,687 patients walked out of the emergency department of the Lourdes without receiving treatment in the first half of 2024 and there’s every reason to believe it’s gotten a lot worse since then. It’s a simple fact that the services are not there to cope with the growing population but it is a situation that the Government is only belatedly facing up to.
To be fair, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan recently acknowledged that Ireland’s current population growth is “too high” and is putting significant pressure on services and infrastructure. He confirmed that Ireland’s population growth is around 1.6% – seven times the EU average – which in everyday speak is a population explosion.
Commuters from the Drogheda and East Meath area setting out for Dublin on the M1 each morning are in no doubt about the infrastructure not being there to meet the growing demand. In recent weeks I’ve been late for medical appointments in Dublin because of congestion on the approaches to the city in the middle of the day as the traffic jams that were once confined to the morning and evening rush hour have now become the norm.
As for the unfortunates who traverse the twilight zone that is the M50 each weekday you can only feel sympathy as they fork out hundreds of euro a year in toll fees as they pay to be delayed for work. Speaking on RTE’s Today with David McCullagh on Wednesday Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín said people from Meath are facing a “four-hour commuter hell on a daily basis and pay through the nose for the pleasure of doing so”.
He also revealed that it has been confirmed that there will be no new capacity provided for public transport this year meaning commuters have no option but to use their cars to get to work.
Following the last census we had government ministers boasting about the country having the highest population since the Famine, it’s just a pity they hadn’t the foresight to put the infrastructure and service there to provide for it.
From First Mall to Forgotten Shell
A videoon Drogheda Down Memory from the inside of the Abbey Shopping Centre brought back fond memories as I worked on its reconstruction back in the day. I believe it was the first shopping mall in the country when it opened and was thriving for most of the 1970s and 80s but its sad decline began at the start of the new millennium and unfortunately like many buildings in that area is now derelict.
But in its early days it was the go to place for shopping while Mildred’s American Style restaurant was one of the best in the town. Owned and run by Mildred Flynn, it was considered somewhat exotic serving American burgers and milkshakes long before McDonald’s and Burger King arrived on the scene.
Renaming Streets Won’t Fix What’s Broken
A Dublin Sinn Fein councillor has called for a review and potential renaming of streets in the capital with British colonial connections to “decolonise” the city. This comes after the controversy over the proposal put before Dublin City Council to change the name of Herzog Park to Free Palestine Park.
Where would you start if there was a similar move to “decolonise” the names of Drogheda’s streets?
If this measure applied to Drogheda away would go George’s St, King St, Wellington Quay, Duke St and William St to name but a few.
Erasing the past is not going to do anything to solve the present difficulties facing Drogheda or Dublin and councillors would be better off tackling them rather than trying to rewrite history.
Cold Like Only Ireland Can Do
We might not get much snow in this country but Ireland certainly can do cold and the country would be more than a match for any of our EU neighbours when it comes to freezing the proverbials off ya. I’ve walked across frozen lakes in the middle of Finland in February and braved a Swedish November but they were nothing compared to the cold I felt on the beach at Baltray last Sunday afternoon.
While the temperature was around zero the wind coming up the Boyne made it feel like it was at least ten below. I’ve heard people who have experienced Canadian winters say they never experienced real cold until they came to Ireland. I put it down to the dampness which those who suffer from arthritis will tell you is everpresent.
