[article] Minister Gallagher in surprise move to Transport

Bluetonic

Minister Gallagher in surprise move to Transport
14/02/2006 - 14:45:26

Marine Minister Pat ‘the Cope’ Gallagher was today appointed to succeed Ivor Callely in the Transport Department while Meath TD Mary Wallace has been surprisingly promoted as junior minister at the Department of Agriculture and Food, it was confirmed.

Ms Wallace will fill the vacancy created by the switch of Wexford TD John Browne to the Mr Gallagher’s previous post in Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.

The new appointments caused surprise as it had been speculated that loyal Government backbencher, Dublin North Central TD Sean Haughey would receive a junior ministry.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern made the announcements in a brief statement to the House before he replied to written Opposition questions.

He said: “I wish to formally announce for the information of the House that the Government has today appointed Deputy Mary Wallace to be Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food. Deputy Pat ‘the Cope’ Gallagher is to be Minister of State at the Department of Transport and Deputy John Browne is to be Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources.”

The announcement was met with brief applause in the Dáil chamber.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/02/14/story244662.html

dowlingm

Well, of course a minister from an urban constituency with understanding of the major infrastructure projects needed like Dublin 10L/28R, interconnector, Cork public transport upgrades, Cork airport terminal, Limerick regional rail, so the perfect choice is Pat the Cop...

wait a second...

never mind. :rolleyes:

Sarsfield

I seem to remember he didn't back up his boss on some issue to do with fish a couple of weeks ago. Being from a constituency full of fish he was under the control of local rather than national issues.

Unlike Ivor, the Aer Lingus/airport/Dublin Bus/commuter constituents don't have direct control over him so maybe he has a better chance of doing something for the greater good.

Being from a constituency with no people (but a few fish remaining) he can approach his new brief with an unbiased and open perspective.

Transport21 Fan

WRC to Donegal anybody?

shltter

Surprising that Bertie chose to overlook young Haughey or glennon as with Ivor gone that leaves a whole swathe of North county Dublin with out even a junior ministry and Haughey and Ivors constituency goes from 4 to 3 next time out.

We now have the Senior minister from Waterford and the Junior Minister from Donegal so I cant see M50 gridlock and Public transport in Dublin Cork and Galway being top of the agenda.

Motorway to Inishowen perhaps

Transport21 Fan

Did anybody read Shane Coleman's superb article in the Tribune last Sunday in which he reported back on a week just observing how the Irish government conducts its business and came to the conclusion that nobody in Dail Eireann represents the vast majority of the citizens of this state.

It's all vested interests from trade unions, farmers, fishing industry and so on. There is simply no representation of the Average Joe in Dail Eireann.

Transport21 Fan

PRESS RELEASE

East-on-Water Steering Committee Demands The Opening of the Eastern Fish Corridor

Decades of Government prejudice against the landlocked regions of this country have finally come to and end with the formation of the East-on-Water Community Campaign which demands that the Killybegs Fishing Fleet be decentralised, and that these landlocked regions be given their fair share of the government investment in the marine fishing industry.

Central to this plan is the construction of the Eastern Fish Corridor – a new waterway connecting the Royal and Grand Canals across the Bog of Allen.

East-on-Water demands that the Midlands gets it fair share of the trawlers, fishing crates, lobster pots and nets which Government policy over several decades has concentrated on developing in Donegal while ignoring the enormous potential for larges catches of Minnows, Frogs and Rats in Mid-Eastern Leinster. The construction of the very viable Eastern Fish Corridor represents a sea change in government fisheries policy. It finally puts an end to the "Donegal Mindset".

The East on Water steering committee has recently issued an expert working report, which outlines the phase opening of the Eastern Fish Corridor.

Phase One: 2006 - First Donegal Trawler is decentralised along with it crew to the pond in Stephens Green.

Phase 2: 2007 - The construction begins on the Eastern Fish Corridor through the bog of Allen to Edenderry – this will coincide with large stocks of live cod, herring and haddock being decentralised from the North Atlantic basin and released into the Royal and Grand Canals.

Phase 3: 2008 - Minister Pat “the Cope” Gallagher is beseeched by the East on Water steering committee to complete the project and decentralises the last of the over congested Donegal fishing fleet to the Midlands.

Phase Four: 2009 - The East on Water committee completely loses interest in fishing and leaves the Irish taxpayers to pick up the bill.

Said Independent TD Paranoid McHysterical of the East-on-Water Steering Committee. “The Eastern Fish Corridor finally gives the landlocked regions of this country a fair share of the Marine Fisheries Industry and makes perfect economic sense. Trawlers will be able to fish in the Midlands and deliver their catch while avoiding the Ballyshannon bottleneck. Decades of Government favouritism towards Donegal has meant that the deprived children of the Midlands have never even seen a deep water fishing trawler and we pay our taxes too and deserve our fair share of the fish pie”

ENDS

markf909

Thats brilliant

MT

@Transport21 Fan: LOL. It's long past time the ludicrously parochial and self-serving whinging from the West was met with the only fitting retort - satire. I mean the WRC itself is like something straight out of Private Eye.

I think this is why so many 'economic unionists' up here have reservations about a united Ireland. They justifiably fear that, like Dublin, the greater Belfast area would be exposed to the Western hover with wails about the famine and payback time after 800 years of oppression.

Do people west of the Shannon ever vote on national issues and the greater good or is it always about clientism and what the local messenger, er… TD, can get from the negligent feudal lords in Dublin?

Transport21 Fan

MT, you are 110% right. This County GAA Jersey citizenship which has replaced Irish Citizenship is huge areas of this country is a sound enough argument for Unionsts to want to stay out of a United Ireland and who could blame them - there really is no such thing as national identity and citizenship for most of rural Ireland. Myopia seems to be the national religion in this country.

It goes something like this:

1. Rural Parish GAA Club
2. IFA Local Branch
3. County GAA Jersey
4. Fine Gael/Fianna Fail Tweedle Dee-Tweedel Dum family preference
5. Liverpool/Man United/Arsenal/Chelsea; Murdoch preference
6. Irish Citizenship

Just to prove that West on Track are not the only ones - check out this absolute howler from the Anglo Celt demanding motorways to Cavan town and a commuter rail link to Kingscourt. My "Eastern Fish Corridor" send up is hardly much of leap beyond what passes for transport debate around much of this island:

Anglo Celt
Boylan attacks neglect of Cavan's transport needs
Feb 16

COUNCILLOR Andrew Boylan launched a scathing attack on the proposed
new Transport 21 programme claiming that Cavan had been totally
neglected.

Speaking at Monday's meeting of Cavan County Council Councillor
Boylan said that the Transport 21 initiative was like a spiders web
with Dublin being the centre. The northwest was totally ignored with
motorways stopping at Kells and Mullingar. The least that was
acceptable was for the motorway to come as far as Cavan.

The East/West link seemed to have disappeared off the map, said
Councillor Boylan. It had been approved at both the BRA and BMW as
the viable route from Dundalk to Sligo.

Cavan county Council had a role to play and they were entitled to
have a proper road structure. The outspoken councillor also claimed
that the route Belfast to Limerick should also be upgraded.

Councillor Madeleine Argue concurred and said the motorway should not
stop at Kells but continue on to link up with the Cavan by-pass at
Pullamore.

Councillor Winston Bennett said that the Transport 21 initiative was
a total disgrace. When the Cavan by-pass was completed it would mean
Ballinagh becoming a bottleneck, he stated.

Councillor Clifford Kelly claimed there had been huge money pumped
into Cavan roads over the past decade. The engineering staff had done
an excellent job. With regard to the East/West link he claimed that
senior politicians in Monaghan had blocked the route.

Some roads had to be up graded to national routes and that was why
the East/West link was not included in Transport 21.

Councillor Shane P. O'Reilly said Cavan County Council had to take a
proactive stance to progress rail and road initiatives in the county.
He suggested that Dr. John Lynch from Irish Rail be invited to attend
a meeting. The rail link had to come to Navan first and it should be
progressed to Kells and then Cavan.

Councillor Joe O'Reilly said the two big omissions from Transport 21
was the failure to bring the M3 to Cavan and the rail link to
Kingscourt. He also stated that the East/West link could not be
tampered with any more.

Councillor Michael McCarey said Transport 21 was a very important
issue and the East/West link was important for the development of
Cavan. Pressure should be put on their Oireachtas members to have the
route put in place. He also suggested that the port of Greenore
should be up graded as well as it would take a lot of lorries off the
road travelling to Dublin.

Councillor Paddy O'Reilly said the M3 should come to Cavan town.

Councillor Sean Smith said Transport 21 was a major project for
Cavan. There had been large investments on the roads of Cavan in
recent years.

Councillor Charlie Boylan said the three main issues were the
completion of the M3, the rail link and the East/West link.


Councillor Boylan said it baffled him how one county could hold up a
decision of six other counties. As a county in Objective One they
were entitled to more but they were not getting it.

murphaph

Excellent post T21Fan. Sums this two-bit country right up, parish pump politics alive and well 80 years after independence. No wonder the industrialists of the north east sh!t themselves and formed the UVF when they smelled this BS on the horizon.

Aidan1

It should also be pointed out that, while parish pump politic dominates at a local level a lot of the time, at the national level some things do get done right.

The level of local political debate is up there with senior infants in many places (check Cork city councillors recent behaviour for example), but at a national level there is some transport and infrastructure planning going on, and some of it is even being delivered (vis the NRA). Not all bad, WRC aside.

Unity does look more and more like a good opportunity to change the electoral system to make it somewhat workable though ...

MT

Unity does look more and more like a good opportunity to change the electoral system to make it somewhat workable though ...

Isn't that putting the cart before the horse. Given that unity has to be sold to a sceptical group wouldn't it be more sensible to improve the electoral system before and not after the event. Why make improvements dependant upon something that might never happen? Anyway this totally OT.

What should happen down there in respect of road transport is the full consolidation of the network under the authority of the DoT. Not the current disjointed approach involving both Transport and Environment departments. Such a change might allow the NRA to then take control of all road planning and development, signing etc. hopefully reducing the half-arsed management currently carried out by the LAs.

Victor

Transport21 Fan wrote:

Just to prove that West on Track are not the only ones - check out this absolute howler from the Anglo Celt demanding motorways to Cavan town and a commuter rail link to Kingscourt. My "Eastern Fish Corridor" send up is hardly much of leap beyond what passes for transport debate around much of this island:

I propose that we build our first nuclear power palnt in Cavan. :v: