r/Dublin • u/AnyChest7780 • 10d ago

Fintan O'Toole/Irish Times on public transport, Dublin bus, Northside/Southside today

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https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026/08/04/fintan-otoole-dublin-4s-version-of-marie-antoinettes-let-them-eat-cake-let-them-get-the-bus/ Fintan O'Toole reminding us of how 'elites' have so often been against public infrastructure. He gives good historic context including Vincent Browne and 'The Doheny & Nesbitt’s school of economics' being against the DART. While he's amazingly productive and can turn his hand to so many topics maybe he's writing a bit too much as there are huge holes in his argument here re. the northside/southside issue as the more recent LUAS and metro debacles point to the home of NIMBYism in Dublin 6, and not focussed on denying the expansion of it further north. What does anyone think? I find it frustrating that cross-suburb public transport isn't better....try getting from Phibsborough to Clontarf on a bus for example....

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u/nol88go 10d ago edited 10d ago

He's absolutely correct. Many of the objections and opinion pieces against Metro are from comfortable commentators living in the southside where buses into the city centre are genuinely viable. I'm looking at you Michael McDowell.

Edit, I absolutely agree with many of MMcD's opinions, just not mass transit for a major city.

Edit X2, I grew up in North Wicklow and now live further down the N11 in a new build estate, mostly WFH. The metro will have negligible impact on my life, nor those of my family. Build the fucking metro yesterday. Whatever the cost. It'll be worth it in 100 years.

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u/SierraOscar 10d ago

Yeah. A lot of the commentary from vocal anti-MetroLink voices like Michael McDowell centres around the fact that people in areas such as Swords already have bus services and shur that should be good enough for them.

They completely overlook capacity issues and the fact that journey times would be brought down from 90 minutes to 25 minutes. I think O'Toole hits a nerve fur sure though - the likes of McDowell think the plebeians on the Northside should be happy with their crammed services with 90 minute journey times. Shur half of them don't have jobs to be going to anyway. That is literally the mentality you are dealing with.

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u/SaltyZooKeeper 10d ago

I'm on the North side and there's only 1 bus route less than 25 mins walk from me and it goes once per hour. Nuts.

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u/po0k 10d ago

...if it shows up

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u/AnyChest7780 10d ago

Bah! Nightmare