The count is in, the seats are filled, and all that’s left is for the government to be formed. The official tally at the end was

• Fianna Fáil 78 seats
• Fine Gael 51 seats
• Labour 20 seats
• Progressive Democrats 2 seats
• Green Party 6 seats
• Sinn Féin 4 seats
• Independents 5 seats

So, once again, it looks like the majority of the country have turned to Fianna Fáil for government, though why I cannot fathom. What remains to be seen in the short term is who they will go into government with, and over their next five years in power, how they will deal with the increasing problems in the country, and the economic slow down which has started.

What is heartening though is that nearly half the country voted against the outgoing government and voted for the alliance of Fine Gael and Labour. If nothing else, it’s a positive indication for the next election, if they can hold that momentum.

The major questions I see for Ireland going forward are initially the health system and infrastructure, and longer term how to increase the knowledge base in the country and attract and fill high worth jobs.

The health system is currently under a lot of pressure. Ireland has seen a massive amount of immigration over the last number of years, and this has increased demand for hospital beds and for A&E services. Neither the nurses nor the consultants are happy with their lot, and both have undergone industrial action in the last couple of months. They aren’t happy with their work conditions or with facilities. The Progressive Democrats, whose previous leader, Mary Harney, was the Minister for Health, want to apply a quick fix and allow private hospitals to be set up on public land, co-located with public hospitals. They claim this will quickly free up 1,000 beds in public hospitals, and will essentially be the same situation as we have now, where a certain percentage of beds in public hospitals are given to private patients. However, this doesn’t take into account staffing of both hospitals side by side, and the increased distinction between those who can afford health care and those who rely on the public system. This division is already there, but private co-located hospitals would certainly increase the visibility of it, and I’d hazard a guess that working in the private hospitals would probably have better conditions and pay than the public ones, eventually leading to a more Americanised system where the wealthy get the best care and the underpriviledged fight for the scraps left over.

The infrastructure in the country is slowly improving, but is still (in my opinion) very Dublin focussed. Even the new motorways being built at the moment are between Dublin and somewhere else (eg. Galway – Dublin, Limerick – Dublin and Cork – Dublin). What we need is increased development of the infrastructure around the other cities, ports and airports in the country to entice a better spread of industry across the country. What would result from this is a slowdown, and possibly a reversal of the overpopulation of the Dublin area, and all the problems it has brought with it.

What also needs to be dealt with is the provision of local services in the areas where large housing estates have cropped up over the past number of years, but where services weren’t required alongside them. So, schools, recreational facilities and planning for retail outlets all needs to be looked at.

Lastly, since Ireland has become an increasingly expensive place to do business, the government needs to work on upskilling a large proportion of the workforce in order to attract the high worth jobs which our “knowledge based” economy will require to keep going. This means increased funding for FÁS and other such organisations, incentives to employees and employers to upskill themselves and their staff, increased funding for research in universities and companies and a concerted effort to attract research and development jobs into Ireland.

So, it remains to be seen what parties will make up our next government, but at least in five years time, we can look back on this post and decide if the government that was formed managed to keep the country going forward, or if we’re in the same state again!

I just read this article titled “Call for improved infrastructure for Dublin”. In general, I would agree that the infrastructure across the enitre country does need improvement and extending.

But, in the article are the following two paragraphs

The chamber says there is an anti-Dublin bias in Government funding.

It says, because it provides half of all national output, the greater Dublin area should get half of the country’s capital investment under the National Development Plan.

This quote is attributed to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

In recent years Dublin has gotten both the Luas and the Port Tunnel. It has the only two commuter light-rail services in the country (the Dart and the Luas), and plans are underway to install a metro service also. It has the most extensive commuter bus network in the country, it is the primary railway hub, has the central bus station and has hundreds of kilometers of motorway leading into, and around, the city.

Meanwhile, the rest of the country has had to put up with substandard national roads, under-equipped and not very punctual commuter bus services and pathetic commuter rail services. Yet, there is an “anti-Dublin bias” in the Government.

If there was as much investment in the infrastructure of the rest of the country, then Dublin wouldn’t need “half the country’s capital investment” because businesses would have other choices on where to locate. By focussing infrastructure investment on Dublin, you are only increasing the scale of the problem. The better Dublin’s infrastructure becomes, then the more likely businesses are to locate in the area rather than elsewhere in the country. This causes the knock-on effect of requiring yet greater infrastructure to cope with the increased traffic. And so the cycle continues, to the detriment of the rest of the country.

Obviously, Dublin’s infrastructure isn’t perfect – in fact, it’s far from it. It will require investment and updating. However, if the Government put more emphasis on relocating, and attracting, businesses to other areas of the country, it would take some of the strain off the Dublin infrastructure. This would allow a gradual upgrading of the infrastructure around Dublin to meet its requirements while increasing jobs and productivity elsewhere in the country. This would then have a knock-on effect of improving the infrastructure around other cities in Ireland, and eventually lead to a somewhat decent country-wide infrastructure for commuter, pleasure and business travel.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a flying pig to catch for breakfast!

Another bank holiday weekend, and the latest figure I heard (from this morning) was eight people killed on Irish roads over the three days. Five of those killed were in Donegal.

I personally think that the Irish government and media put too much emphasis on slowing drivers down, and not enough on the horrendous state of the roads in Ireland. Once you leave any main road, themselves often not in great condition, you’re into a world of blind bends, bone-shaking pot-holes, sloping bumpy roads, and overgrown ditches. And, lest we focus too much on the driver, these roads are even worse for cyclists and pedestrians. Paths are unheard of along these roads, let alone cycle lanes or anything else.

I was taught to drive at a speed that allows me to stop within the distance I can see ahead. In general, rural routes in Ireland have a maximum speed limit of 80km / hour. On a relatively straight stretch of road, doing 80km/hr, you can get thrown from side to side by dips in the road, you’ll have to swerve to avoid pot-holes, and on a lot of the roads, you could have to drive into the ditch to pass another car going in the opposite direction.

I will not defend dangerous driving, but I think too much blame for the accidents on our roads is being put on the drivers. You can argue that there are a lot more cars on Irish roads than, say, twenty years ago, which would obviously increase the occurance of accidents. But, this also means a lot more tax income for the government to improve the infrastructure in the country, particularly on the rural routes where, it seems, most of the fatal accidents are occuring. Instead of being used to improve the country, however, this money is being used to buy elections with promises of decreased taxes.

I firmly believe that people don’t mind spending money if they’re getting value for what they spend. This goes equally for taxes. Why not ensure that tax income is spent efficiently to improve the country for everyone, instead of putting a little more money in the pockets of those who can afford it. Sure, that extra bit of money will be eaten up in car repairs anyway!