James has been active politically since university when he was involved in students union campaigns. James is a former Chair of Wexford Ógra Fianna Fáil and is currently Chair of the Sallins Cumann and vice-Chair of Naas Comhairle Ceantair. James served at national level before as a Leinster rep on the National Youth Committee. In 2011 James re-established the Cearbhall Ó’Dálaigh cumann at Kings Inns and is currently Chair. In 2009 James ran for local elections to Kildare county council as a  Fianna Fáil candidate – despite a record low for the party, James polled credibly for a first time candidate achieving half a quota on the first count and was the last to be eliminated. James would be economically centrist whilst being more conservative on social issues. Public transport, area planning, political and legal reforms are policy interests allied to a strong Republican ideology. James is a strong believer in traditional party heritage and is a local organiser of the annual Wolfe Tone commemoration at Bodenstown (as pictured). He was also part of the team behind the new Fianna Fáil magazine, CUISLE, launched recently.

Growing up in north Wexford, as a young adult James worked at a variety of jobs in the tourist and service industries. Since college his professional career has been largely within IT. Currently he works as a systems analyst within the insurance and financial service industries.

James studied at Trinity College from where he has a primary degree in Mathematics and a masters degree in High Performance Computing. James is currently studying law by night at Kings Inns where he recently took first place in exams overall as well as a number of individual prizes.

In his spare time James enjoys jogging, a round of golf or exploring the great outdoors with his children and their dogs. James is also a keen follower of Gaelic games and is involved locally with Sallins GAA.

Other local involvements include Sallins Community Games, Sallins Community Council, Naas & Sallins Rail Users Group, Naas Toastmasters, Bodenstown Golf Club, Sallins Fianna Fáil and Sallins Pier Residents Association.

My experience over the past few years has been that there are plenty of individual members out there in social media and other fora with strong opinions and articulate viewpoints even at times when the ‘senior party’ was more reticent. Thankfully nowadays the party is all singing off the same hymn sheet at every level but either way our new project is designed to give those members a voice and an outlet for discussion, debate, to compare notes and to renew the party.

The results went to press last month and are now in circulation amongst the party membership. Our new magazine is called CUISLE (“Pulse”, translated) and contains 32 pages of opinion, commentary, analysis some positive, some stark, all candid and all unfiltered and straight from the membership. I am delighted with the results and great to finally now see it in print. I have a few pieces in it myself and was honoured to serve on the editorial board. This is hopefully just one of many projects over the months and years ahead that will allow the membership renew the party and exercise democracy and direction as to where and what sort of party we all want to end up with.  We might have a smaller party but perhaps a small passionate membership is better than a horde of good time golfers. Anything in life is what you make it and now we have that chance. If any readers would like a copy of the new mag, get in touch.

The works have been sought for some considerable time, practically since the station re-opened a decade or so ago and whilst newer stations such as Adamstown got accessibility access from the off, we had to wait for the upgrade works to commence and there were a number of false dawns along the way.

Still better late than never and it’s great to now see the construction phase begin, the machinery is finally on site and the project is commencing. The accessibility access issue has been the most pressing item in terms of station works for some time. It will be a huge relief primarily for disabled passengers of course and am sure it will also be welcomed by anyone who has ever had to push a buggy or cart a load of shopping over the existing stairway.

The works will not put in an elevator as I understand it but rather a set of footbridges and ramps. This is probably not ideal as an elevator would be more convenient but this seems to be the model Irish Rail are going with now as it is lower mainteance and less vandalism prone given lesser complexity and fewer moving parts.

I do think longer term the station has a lot of development potential – there are a fine set of buildings there and there is a lot more that could be done in terms of facilities including an enhanced ticket office, waiting area and even a little café in the future. But we’ll certainly welcome the accessibilityworks for now as a basic requirement of the station’s users and an essential first priority for any station upgrades.

“For years Fine Gael and Labour have it both ways by controlling the council yet playing the blame game that Fianna Fáil were in power and that they had no control. But that ignores the reality that Fianna Fáil have not held a majority on Kildare county council for over twenty years. And now that Fine Gael and Labour Ministers are undeniably holding the purse strings at both national and local level they can not hide behind the excuse of being powerless any longer” said James. “What’s more even as recently as last January 2011, when Fianna Fáil were in power nationally, one of the last acts of the outgoing Fianna Fáil Minister Pat Carey was to allocate a funding of 900 Million from the Department of Transport to be allocated for regional road works by local authorities. This money was made available and ring fenced even in a time of scarcity and that money should now be put to use by the Kildare County Council on the many urgent projects long outstanding throughout the constituency.” James explained.

“So the blanket response of no money is not accurate on a number of levels. In the current council budget an allocation of 25 million is contained for road and transportation improvements. Resource are scarce but there is funding available and these scarce resources need to be prioritised to those urgent projects most in need”.

“A critical example close to home is the Osberstown junction on the Sallins – Naas road. This junction sees huge volume of traffic traverse the main thoroughfare whilst traffic from the neighbouring estates and side-road struggle continuously to find a break in fast moving traffic. Traffic from Caragh also uses this junction and the volumes of throughput have only multiplied in recent years. Yet despite being an accident waiting to happen we have yet to see any action at this junction barring the farcical situation where traffic lights were erected and then taken down again almost as quickly, all in the space of a crazy three weeks at the midpoint in the crisis” according to James.

“Scarce resources need to be targeted to those areas most in need and this junction is surely one of them” James continued. “The excuse of no funds is a blanket one that is not entirely accurate and the council needs to prioritise this and many other outstanding works for the welfare and safety of people at all these locations“ concluded James.

Unfortunately there is nothing funny about the situation for residents who have to battle daily with increasingly intense traffic volumes to get out at the junction. The safety issues are obvious not least from the frustration that builds up being stuck at the junction again waiting for a break in traffic.

On the flip side I do welcome the recent road surfacing just gone in at the road from the junction mouth up over the old railway bridge and down the far side to the creche and almost to the canal bridge. I successfully lobbied to get the pavement extended along same stretch of road almost two years ago.

The traffic volumes are only growing however and it is hard to see any start being made on the bypass in the current climate and conditions. Regardless of longer term plans however, there is still every argument for proceeding immediately with works at the Obserstown junction anyway. My own view is that a roundabout may be the most appropriate fit, given the many traffic lights already lining the main flow through Sallins and a roundabout would both slow approaching traffic as well as provide a right of way for road users to exit the junction from the Osberstown direction.

The council keep saying they’ve no money but in reality they’ve €25 Million in a fund for road and transportation safety works for the current year, allocated from the Kildare County Council budget. As well as the fund at local level, one of the last actions of Minister Pat Carey before leaving office in February was to create and ringfence a fund of several hundred million euro for regional and local road upgrades around the country. So there is money there, it’s just a matter of the right projects being prioritised.

I will keep on this one and I would welcome any feedback / views also.

Traffic Management in Sallins

Submitted: James Lawless

Date: 29th July, 2011

1.           Introduction

This document is submitted as feedback on the current public consultation re traffic management / pedestrianisation initiatives in Sallins village. It draws on content from other previously submitted documents which dealt with overlapping issues. As such it may sketch a slightly wider scope than the immediate focus of the consultation.

2.           Background

Sallins village has grown rapidly in recent years and the village infrastructure has been under strain for some time. Traffic flows in and around the village currently struggle to cope with the volume of demand. Parking issues also continue to cause exacerbation.

This document highlights current issues with suggestions for improvement where practicable. It is expected the relevant planners can enhance these proposals with solutions based upon their professional knowledge and experience of simliar situations.

3.           Kerdiffstown Road and Canal View

Canal view and the Kerdiffstown road in particular come under strain as traffic to school, church and N7 motorway must use the same narrow egress.

Current difficulties are illustrated in the below diagram.

Traffic flows in the diagram are illustrated with block arrows. The area covered is the block between the canal, church and railway station.

These routes are heavily used by traffic for school, church and access to N7 motorway. A one-way system is currently in force around the canal bridge area.

Whilst the streets were always busy and occasionally congested, the situation was worsened a while back by creation of parking spaces along the street shown in diagram as purple boxes. Whilst being sympathetic to the need for extra parking in the village centre, at points 3 & 4 in above diagram, the parking spaces resulted in narrowing the carriageway to the point where only one car can pass at a time. This had the unintentional effect of creating a de facto one way street.

This in turn means that traffic wishing to turn right along the canal from the main street sometimes must travel up onto the canal bridge and take a right turn across a lane of oncoming traffic and down the ramp off canal bridge (point 1 in above diagram). Due to the humpback bridge this is effectively a blind turn and in my view is highly dangerous.

Much of this is school traffic with young children being brought to school. Also commuters use this path to access the motorway in mornings.

Traffic coming from the Kerdiffstown road into the village theoretically has the option of joining the main street at point 2 however this is a very narrow corner junction and is in no way suitable as a primary traffic corridor.

The corner parking space was removed and subsequently double yellow lines were introduced onto the road along by point 4 in diagram (Church Avenue). Whilst excessive parking certainly created issues for such a busy but narrow carriage way the double yellow lines have not proved an effective solution and have negatively impacted the ability of local residents and businessse to park outside their own premises.

The ultimate solution must take into account practicalies such as the need for local parking and “seasonal“ peaks (such as mass times and school run) whilst ensuring a constant smooth flow of traffic to avoid excessive hold ups and knock-on safety issues.

4.           Parking Constraints

There are a number of traffic & parking constraints currently applicable within the village area bordering the canal (as descibed above). Spill-over parking from the Railway station negatively impacts upon residents and business owners in the immediate vicinity i.e. on the streets canal view, church avenue etc. It is also problematic that this small road takes a large volume of traffic from the village to the school and out onto the M7 motorway.

These issues can be summarised by the following goals:

• Ensure available parking exists for residents and commercial users of the location.
• Address inappropriate all day parking which deprives residents of spaces and clogs road.
• Ensure roadway is clear especially at peak times and ensure appropriate access for traffic volume.

A suggestion would be that available spaces be allocated to residents on a permit basis and that a short-term parking window be granted for customers and casual users. Excessive / All day parking should be prohibited at all street parking locations in village. Parking regulation should take into account traffic patterns also, e.g. more parking required at mass times but less through traffic.

• Target available parking at residents and businesses through a permit system
• Prohibit excessive / all day parking at all on street locations
• Ensure roadway clear and appropriate for traffic volumes
• Account for patterns such as school run, motorway commute, church times
• Single yellow line to enable flexibility outside core hours e.g. weekend mass times
• Address safety issues by providing smooth, managed flow of traffic

5.           New Junctions

The new traffic junction should consider flows from Osberstown estates, railway station and church avenue as well as existing (and essential for school) pedestrian crossing facility. It is suggested to relocate this crossing just slightly to come in line with the existing junction, to regulate access for motorists entering the Main street from either side and also to enable pedestrian traffic cross to the school, church and train station in safety from the other side. I understand detailed consultation on this will occur at a later date.

Another junction requiring control measures is also required from Osberstown cottages onto R407 where a set of lights have been erected but not enabled and then removed. This junction should be incorporated into the overall traffic management scheme with alacirty to enable residents here access the main road and avoid an accident.

6.           Main Street and Canal Bridge

Traffic volumes along the main street are magnified by vehicles using the village as a rat run between the N7 and N4 motorways.

The current canal bridge can also be hazardous for pedestrians due to narrow footpath on one side and no footpath on other.

Pedestrian traffic from the Osberstown side of the village has no footpath to cross the bridge on that side. Whilst it is possible to cross at the traffic lights, it is necessary then to recross the main road further down the village in order to cross back onto that side. Access to the canal is thereby impaired for walkers, people with buggies or in wheelchairs.

Provision of a pedestrian foot bridge on one or both sides of canal bridge could address this hazard whilst enhancing the aesthetic character of the bridge (ala Newbridge footbridge across Liffey) .

7.           Longer Term Solutions

It is appreciated the current consultation is a short-term initiative with a particular focus. Nonetheless the following suggestions are propsed with an eye to the longer term view.

It is hoped the Sallins bypass will take a major volume of traffic off the village streets and address some of the current difficulties. However internal village traffic accessing school, train station, church and motorways will still intersect and conflict at key points.

One way system with new canal bridge

One longer term solution to manage traffic flows around the village is the creation of a one way system as illustrated in below diagram:

The solution above would require construction of an extra bridge across canal and is understood to be a longer term solution. However it may be the best long term approach.

Traffic flows in above diagram are indicative as is exact location of new bridge, many permutations on above theme would probably work in practice.

It does mean we are paying back more interest in the longer term but again I think that’s a price worth paying for more day to day flexibility. Also with presumed inflation the capital amount to be repaid should be less in real terms by redemption date.

Really the Greek difficulty was Ireland’s opportunity. Ireland, along with Portugal and possibly Spain, got lucky in terms of the wider European events conspiring to mean an overall solution had to be brokered. In the early days the thinking from Europe seemed to have been to “make an example” out of Ireland however as the solution was rolled out across further countries and as the Euro was coming under increased pressure, eventually something had to give. It seems Greece itself will be permitted a degree of default but that it will be strictly ring-fenced to that jurisdiction. Not convinced this will work, neither is Shane Ross.

A good break for Ireland though. Of course the interest rate cut only applies to one element of the bailout, the EFSF proportion, for all their malignment, the IMF rate was always more hospitable (c. 3%) and then there is EU / ECB funding, the latter through the backdoor into the Irish banks (which is partly what forced the bailout to be formalised in the first place) and other arrangements. I understand the bilateral agreements with UK and other countries (Sweden?) have yet to be drawn down, so the rate on those may not have been finalised yet. So the interest rate cut is only one part of a much wider pie, including many lenders and many different rates, but still a welcome development all the same. Not a panacea but sure we’ll take a Parthenon while it’s going spare.

My last post was about Brian Lenihan and the tragic echo of unfulfilled promise ala Camelot / Kennedy. The loss manifests in what might have been earlier as much as what might have been later in the sense that his time at the wheel came when the ship was already headed for the rocks.

His period at the helm of Ireland’s finances was possibly the most turbulent any Minister has had to face since independence and must have been especially so for a new Minister only in his brief a matter of weeks when the crisis hit. One cannot help but wonder what might have been had Bertie got over his own issues and recognised talent earlier, and had Brian’s undoubted ability at the cabinet table in the preceding years.

Unfortunately the period will be remembered probably for a series of fairly cataclysmic events running roughly from the guarantee up to the week the IMF landed and including the austerity budgets in between. The full story of those weeks, months, years has yet to be written and it may be many moons before we find out what really went on behind the scenes through that time, if ever. Yet some revelations have emerged into public discourse already such as in Brian’s own BBC interview and in Morgan Kelly’s recent Irish Times piece. I was surprised having coffee with some colleagues recently that these more recent revelations did not seem to have pervaded public consciousness to the extent that I might have expected.

The basic facts are clear. A guarantee was extended in 2009 to cover banking debt, this increased the national debt, along with rapid deterioration in the public finances this created twin pillars of economic and banking crises which proved insoluble in national isolation. Enter the IMF to replace the bond markets along with a programme of austerity agreed in conjunction with the EU and we are where we are.

That much, I believe is understood and uncontested. What is less clear is how, who, why the various events unfolded as they did.

The crisis in the public finances I believe could have been corrected by the austerity budgets. That particular cycle had happened before and may happen again. It was the banking crisis that really did the damage. The banking guarantee appears in hindsight to have been a mistake, yet who is to say what would have happened in the alternative, whether the banking system and perhaps the entire economy collapsed literally overnight? Could a single bank (Anglo) been allowed go to the wall, as effectively happened with Lehman brothers in the states previously. It is intuitively attractive to suggest that it could, yet it seems the prevailing argument against was really one of Euro Zone stability, rather or at least more so, than any vested local interest. Brian Lenihan in an interview for FrontLine in the early days of the crisis repeatedly stressed that no European bank had failed in the post war ear and it wouldn’t start here now. It is possible there was an element of pride in this, that Ireland would not be the one to let the side down. It is also possible and quite probable that the EU were strong arming the position and no bank would be allowed to fail without a flood of punitive consequences for the errant nation. It is also the case that despite the scornful commentary since, the weight of economic opinion at the time was divided on the issue with later critics such as McWilliams at the time calling for such a solution. In fact on the night the guarantee was voted through the Dáil, it was supported by all parties, except Labour who alone opposed. In fact, while it seems ironic now, I remember a Fine Gael friend saying to to me at the time “Labour will pay for this” (for opposing the guarauntee) . And yet one can’t help feel Labour opposed merely because they could as they grand standed on so many other issues in opposition. And of course FG swept home to a huge election victory despite having supported it.

I will return to this subject again in later posts..

As was remarked during the week when Garrett Fitzgerald was 52 he hadn’t even served in his first government yet, let alone been party leader and twice Taoiseach and a distinguished commentator for decades after.

Brian faced his illness with dignity and great courage and seemed resolute until the end to keep ‘fighting the good fight’. Even with death around the corner and the gale raging against, he stayed fixed to the mast of the national finances and soldiered to the bitter end.  There has naturally been a lot of talk about his legacy in recent days and most have focused on his dedication, patriotism, decent and probably above all courage in the face of such extreme adversity as he battled against the storm raging both outside in the wider world and inside his own body.

In a couple of follow up blogs I will consider recent events more closely, but for now suffice to mark the passing of the man. One cannot help but wonder what might have been had Bertie given him his start earlier, and had his undoubted ability at the cabinet table in the preceding years.

His father before him was another giant of Irish politics and in many ways was hewn from the old Fianna Fáil cloth, championing independent foreign policy on causes as Palestine, double dealing with the British over commonwealth membership in return for the six counties back, advancing education through the development of the regional technical colleges, rolling back censorship a most liberal and progressive move for the time, among many other achievements. Of course Brian senior got to spend thirty years as a senior Minister, Brian junior barely got three.

The family has been beset by tragedy, as eloquently chronicled by Jonny Fallon last week, and it was in this context I was reminded of the Kennedys when I first heard the news of Brian’s passing last week. Doomed by fate and bad luck and equally poignant in promise unfulfilled, it is well documented how three Kennedys in succession attempted to take the White House, each one falling to a different fate. In a swansong to his own dreams but a rallying cry for the greater cause, Teddy Kennedy delivered the last of the Camelot speeches in 1979 when he was narrowly beaten for the democratic nomination in what he knew would be the last chance for a Kennedy ever again to take the top prize.

I think his words then are relevant now and I sign out on those lines..

“For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.”

Slán a Bhrian. Ar Dheis Dé go raibh a anam dilis.

The weather is certainly shaping up nicely and augurs well for the long weekend. I intend to get busy blogging again now I’ll have a little more free time in the evenings and have something of a backlog of drafts written but never competed during my long winter solstice of sorts which I might have to dust down.

Musing quickly over recent events, the Queen’s visit certainly went off well and won over many including me, the ceremony at Islandbridge was particularly historic, especially coming on the heels of the garden of remembrance. Whatever our political or historical beliefs we absolutely must respect those on all sides who made sacrifices and it is quite shameful really to think how many of those ex-veterans had to hide their military record or become pariahs in post-independence period. I read recently an account of life through the transition from a former nationalist but also of ascendancy stock, Barrister Maurice Healy who practiced on the Munster circuit but basically had to flee to the UK when the atmosphere became too hostile for him here.

A memorable passage in the book talks about an exiled ageing magistrate withering in the equatorial sun passing justice amongst the burghers of malay kay or some far flung colonial outpost all the time pining for his days skipping from Cork to Tralee with empty pockets but a head fit to burst from the excitement of the day ahead .. or something along those lines. Interesting stuff indeed. Our history is truly a complex one.

Obama’s pint in Offaly went down well and even if Enda nicked a few lines from one of his speeches well so what, I’ve done it myself (see if you can spot a line here : ) )

The government have had a mixed bag, good publicity though little real action, it seems they are coming to terms with the enormity of the problem in a somewhat tempestuous fashion as we have seen with various Ministers doing “solo runs” or “speaking out of turn”, one wonders whether Enda Kenny’s ‘Chairman not Chief’ approach to managing his team of the talents will prove effective as the coalition comes under strain.

Anyway all will be revealed I expect in due course.. Expect much more commentary from this direction in any case over the next few months. I hope you stay tuned!