Boom wasted on rat-race roads going nowhere

FOR many the unkindest aspect of the recent past was the absence of humane working conditions while organising young families and commuting to and from work.

The line promoted was that stress was normal when it was patently abnormal for workers to be forced to rouse toddlers at 5am to take them to creches or their grandparents before stoically rejoining the rush hour traffic jam, and not finally reconnecting with young family members until late in the evening.

Instead of demolishing hills and archaeological sites and building roads for obsolescent oil-driven cars and grossly fuel inefficient truck freight, the large revenues generated by the late Celtic Tiger should have been used to upgrade rail lines around the country.