Michael McDowell: Why is our capacity to deliver infrastructure projects worse now than it was in the 19th century?
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2024/08/28/why-is-our-capacity-to-deliver-infrastructure-projects-worse-now-than-it-was-in-the-19th-century/
Posted by Bill_Badbody
11 Comments
Slavery.
This man must not understand irony.
>Contrast that with the construction in 1847 of the Dublin-Cork mainline railway. It received parliamentary assent in 1844 and reached Carlow and Cashel in 1846. Assent to extend the line to Cork was received in 1845 and the line reached a temporary terminus at Blackpool outside Cork city centre in 1847.
This comes from the man who has personally blocked the southern section of the metro.
Councils still move at the same pace they did back then
We don’t have ample supply of impoverished Irishmen to work like dogs for a pittance.
Why are we worse at infrastructure now? Gobshites like Michael McDowell attempting to hold up projects at every opportunity they get.
Rules, regulations, workers rights.
> Would we be better reverting to a 19th-century procedure whereby major infrastructural projects receive parliamentary approval and are implemented in quick order? Does everything have to be done through the current planning-board process
If we moved to this model and the government moved ahead with, for example, a Metrolink plan for south Dublin who do you think would be the first person to challenge in the courts?
[Hmmmmm](https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/opposition-to-metrolink-plan-for-south-dublin-continues-1.3741802)
> This proposal met strenuous opposition from almost 30 residents groups, in addition to individual residents, and politicians, including Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy and former minister for justice Michael McDowell. It was claimed the project would split communities, would compound already terrible traffic, and force motorists into a 1.2km detour through Ranelagh village.
I mean, I think our record at project delivery is pretty shit, but I wonder were there some other forces at play maybe in that 1844-1847 time period that made labour cheaper and freely available? Hmmm….
Remember guys the Mitchelstown-Fermoy bypass came in on budget and ahead of Time, but that was because the company brought labor in from abroad housed and fed them and worked in shifts, the wages were way above average for the country that the workers came from but certain groups in Ireland wanted them paid an Irish wage.
BAM which seems to win most of these infrastructure tenders, do they complete on time within budget?? Think children’s hospital, 650 million to 2.24 billion and still increasing.
SIAC won the contract to widen parts of the M7, Naaa-Newbridge, I think they rebuilt and dropped one bridge three times, and another bridge will have road repairs every few months, oh they went over budget and way outside the time line, remember the traffic down to one lane yet no workers working on it for weeks at a time.
Certain companies should have a freeze put on their tender submission until other projects are finished if they go over budget or extended time by a lot.
And yes we all know of T.D.’s and councilors stalling the application, or asking for bogus reports to be done, yet ignoring other reports that will affect the wildlife and local population.
Because cnuts like you do their best to block their development.
Besides the obvious answer being Michael McDowell. I’m pretty sure the Brits weren’t afraid to kick Iriah tenants out of land they didn’t own to build infrastructure. Its almost like people aren’t second class citizens anymore.