Rural transport proposals fail to answer some real dilemmas

TO win the looming general election, the Government is prepared to drive people to drink, literally.

Many rural publicans say their businesses are under threat because transport links are inadequate and customers are less likely to drive because of random breath-testing.

Apart from being a blatant electioneering gimmick, the proposal on the rural transport scheme — as announced by Éamon Ó Cuív, Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs — is a little bit off the wall because it is ill-thought out on a number of points.

The proposal to extend the hours of rural transportation schemes in order to save the social life of some villages could, in reality, put some people in jeopardy the next morning.

Not all those who live in remote rural areas are old age pensioners. Some have to come off what the Government obviously regards as reservations to go to work the next day.

They might be all right on the night, but they could be caught the following morning, as many an unfortunate has recently found out on his or her way to work.

However, the minister must be given credit for being realistic and practical on the subject of random breath-testing. He has enough common sense to realise it is having a noticeable effect on rural pubs, but he could have been more expansive.

He might as well have included all pubs in his proposal; in fact, he could have said the entire population who enjoy a drink but who need their cars for work are affected.

Random testing for alcohol has the drinking population terrified. Drivers are now so scared of even having one drink, there’s no longer any thought of having the traditional break in a journey if, say, you’re driving from Cork to Thurles. This must have an effect on local economies.

In his announcement this week, Mr Ó Cuív said possible solutions included the extension of the rural transport initiatives but, as he is aware, they only operate in about 30 areas around the country.

Besides, because of this, the nationwide expansion of the rural transport scheme had already been approved, and funding has been provided for the roll-out.

But this is not a solution because a person might have more than a sore head the following day if they come across a random check.

You would have to be very naive to believe the following: “Public transport services are not adequate during the day; it’s fair to say they are not adequate at night either,” said the minister.

Whether they will be adequate after the election remains to be seen.

It’s only a few months away from an election and this reality dawns on the Government — so now talks are under way with the Transport Department about expanding the €10 million rural bus initiative to ferry drinkers to the local.

The Government should have addressed the problems of rural transport long before now and not try to make it appear as if it is now going to be the saviour of rural life.

Anybody living in the country and who enjoys a drink but cannot get back from the pub — at least legally — will also no doubt be impressed by the ridiculous remarks of the Road Safety Authority chairman, Gay Byrne.

To him, the debate over random breath-testing heralding the end of the rural pub was “a bit of a song over nothing”.

He was condescending enough to declare he had “some sympathy with the difficulties faced by rural drinkers”, but he said that the fear of its demise due to the smoking ban did not materialise.

This is nothing even remotely comparable to the smoking ban. It’s about meeting friends and neighbours at the pub and having a chat or game of cards. You can even have a smoke out the back of the pub with them, or inside if the venue has a smoking area.

Mr Byrne said he believed that, to a certain extent, the supposed difficulties among rural dwellers were exaggerated because in some of the more remote areas, the possibility of being stopped at a road block and having to undergo a breathalyser test “seems pretty slim”.

That sounds suspiciously like an Irish solution for an Irish problem. What Mr Byrne seemed to be suggesting — and this is open to interpretation — was that the chances of being caught in those areas was nearly as remote as the areas themselves.

IN other words, those in remote rural areas were comparatively safe as it was unlikely they would come across a garda checkpoint, so to speak.

Meanwhile, the transport move has been welcomed by Independent TD Michael Lowry, who criticised random testing in rural areas due to the lack of public transport.

He also questioned the necessity of breathalysing drivers the next morning, between 9am and 11am, when many would be, he said, on their way to Mass.

He claimed that this could alienate a lot of people and said “good law depends on the goodwill and the cooperation of the public”.

Mr Lowry’s defence of the faithful is commendable, and in arguing their case he has struck a point which very many people feel is unfair and unjust: why random testing in the morning on the scale it is being used? It’s a serious problem not just for the rural dweller but for anybody who has to use a car, van or lorry the next morning.

That is why Mr Ó Cuív’s pre-election gimmick is only half thought out. He’ll get the rural punters to the pub on time, and home again safely, but they face the same predicament the following morning as the city dweller does.

If they’re caught between 9am and 11am, will they be able to plead a kind of “sanctuary”, that they were going to Mass? Better still, that they’re on their way to the Dáil?

In and around the city, the gardaí get up early when they’re going on these expeditions, so they can catch the unsuspecting going to work at 7am, or even earlier.

There’s no point in pleading everything was done by the book the night before — that taxis were used, or a designated driver took you to the pub, and you had only three or four pints.

And it all seems as if it’s going to get worse because in announcing their targets for this year, the gardaí are set to crack down even more on drivers.

Garda figures show that between July and the end of December 2006, 47 fewer people died on Irish roads.

That is very good news — but were those lives spared in the hours after the pubs and clubs closed, or when the gardaí were out random breath-testing as people went to work?

The odds are stacked against you, so much so that unless you get a bus or train to work the next day, you are in almost exactly the same position as anybody who lives in a remote rural area.

The only difference is that the Government says it will expand the bus service in those regions before the general election — and it’s up to the residents whether they will believe that or not.