Irish Examiner view: Cameras could contribute to road safety
Iarnród Éireann says there have been 30 incidents at level crossings around the country so far this year, 11 of which resulted in road users being injured or in the crossings being damaged.
A scheme has been launched which aims to improve safety at level crossings around the country and, to judge by the data gathered by Iarnród Éireann, not before time.
Cars dicing with death as they dodge level crossing barriers are a mainstay of candid-camera clip shows, but the damage done by such vehicles is a serious matter. According to Iarnród Éireann, there have been 30 incidents at various level crossings around the country so far this year. Some 11 of those incidents resulted in road users being injured or resulted in those crossings being damaged.
This scheme is being rolled out initially on a pilot basis, with Garda GoSafe cameras used to record motorists using the crossings. The cameras will automatically issue fines of €160 for speeding and €80 for breaking a red light, while drivers will also be liable for three penalty points.
According to Iarnród Éireann, the cameras are designed to be easily relocatable and will be deployed where needed.
This scheme is welcome, particularly if we have dozens of incidents at level crossings. Given the speed of trains, there is a significant threat to life if a motorist disregards warning signals and tries to cross when it is unsafe.
Yet, there is also an obvious question to be asked. Given the carnage on our roads, surely such cameras should be installed at traffic lights all around the country?
A driver avoided jail earlier this week for breaking a red light in Dublin and hitting a pensioner in her eighties, leaving her with serious and life-changing injuries. Many of us could share similar stories of red lights being ignored by a variety of road users, all of whom seem able to break the law with impunity.
This level crossing camera scheme is welcome, but a similar project centred on some of the busiest road intersections around the country would ensure better driving discipline — and prevent some catastrophic accidents.
One of the hottest red-button issues in modern Ireland is the topic of migration, which has become so emotive a subject that even the blandest discussion has to contend with disinformation and misrepresentation of the facts from the start.
However, an understandable reluctance to engage with a matter beloved by far-right agitators may have led to a general lack of examination of the subject. Now, the EU itself is warning about the overt weaponisation of migrants by the likes of Russia and Belarus.
While we are aware of the Russian fondness for cyberattacks, EU border agency Frontex has said we must also expect “hybrid attacks” that include provocation of EU border personnel and sabotage of border infrastructure.
The agency added: “A growing area of concern is the potential infiltration into irregular migrant flows of mercenaries or war veterans with advanced combat capabilities.
“These individuals pose an elevated security risk, particularly if integrated into organised crime networks.”
Frontex added that with migration from conflict zones increasing, so does the risk of criminals, terrorists, saboteurs, and intelligence operatives “infiltrating” migration routes.
There are further complications arising from the new US migration regime, with Frontex pointing out that these changes have the potential to increase pressure on European air borders by “directing migratory flows of Venezuelan, Colombian, and Cuban nationals”, as well as non-Latin American migrants towards the EU.
Addressing these issues is complicated by the far right’s adoption of migration as one of its key talking points. This has led to a rhetorical trap wherein any effort to discuss migration rationally can be weaponised as agreement with the far right, when nothing could be further from the truth.
The irony here is that the “criminals, terrorists, saboteurs, and intelligence operatives” identified by Frontex are not migrants in any sense of the word, but the agents of rogue states working to a political agenda of destabilisation. This is a matter of national security which needs urgent discussion rather than being ignored for fear of awkward conversations.
Irish soccer international Caoimhín Kelleher completed his €15m transfer from Premier League champions Liverpool to Brentford this week. The 26-year-old Corkman has enjoyed several successful years at Liverpool but has clearly moved to get more first-team action with the London club.
Kelleher’s career is not the only beneficiary of the move. Because he left Liverpool with a year remaining on his contract, a clause brokered by his schoolboy club was activated. Ringmahon Rangers will now receive a minimum of €3m, with specific milestones around appearances and league position, triggering add-on payments.
That payout comes from Liverpool, but Fifa’s statute of solidarity payments means Ringmahon will also receive a payment from Brentford, believed to be approximately €750,000.
As Kelleher spent some time with Rockmount AFC (Roy Keane’s first club), they will also receive a portion of the main payout — some €600,000 — and a small cut of the Fifa solidarity payment.
It is fitting that the clubs which trained Kelleher and brought him through to professional success should benefit.
It is also fitting that the two clubs involved — Ringmahon Rangers and Rockmount — are both well known for their commitment to their communities and for the time and energy they invest in their underage structures. The windfall from the transfer could hardly go to better organisations in terms of the benefit to the clubs themselves and to their respective catchment areas.
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