Makes much more sense to take train and ferry

This week’s Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column

Michael Commane

I was stopped in my tracks some days ago listening to the Claire Byrne Show on RTÉ Radio 1. Philip Boucher Hayes was stepping in for Claire. He was interviewing Dr Jerry Murphy, who is a civil engineer and director of the  Environmental Research Unit at UCC. 

Murphy is a scientist deeply concerned about the state of our climate and how we are in the process of destroying our world.

He argues that even if every plane moved over to Sustainable Aviation Fuel by 2050 it would only reduce the warming effect caused by aviation by half. And to do that by 2050 is a pipe dream.

Murphy said that while living in London in the 1980s his annual salary was £10,000 while a flight from London to Cork was £200. He argues that the cost of flying is going to be very high and that we won’t be flying as much. He mentioned that at UCC they are now told to zoom rather than fly to a meeting.

‘Travel by airline must go down and costs go up if we are to get to net zero,’ he said.

And using batteries is not the answer he told Philip: ‘To use a battery to fly from London to Dubai it would have to be bigger than the plane.’

‘The idea of flying off to Saville for a weekend will probably not be there by 2040. I think we’ll take a ferry to France, I think we will have slower holidays. Not my personal wish. Flying will become very expensive and aviation should reduce.’

Murphy thinks it’s sad that our young people can’t buy houses but can pop over to Saville, Rome or Barcelona for the weekend. In 10, 15 years we won’t be able to pop off for a weekend because airfares will be so expensive, he says.

But of course it’s not just an Irish problem. There is need for a global consensus, as aviation is international.

He sees future travel being much slower, with us using ferries and trains.

Later that day I was cycling in Dublin City centre. The number of people I saw looking for directions on their phones or conventional maps made me think of Jerry Murphy earlier on the radio. 

Besides the damage all our flying is doing I’ve been wondering for some time now about the modern phenomenon of flying here there and everywhere. It’s probably a most un-PC thing to say. But cycling in Dublin that afternoon I was struck by the number of bored-looking people I saw, wandering about the place. 

Maybe my imagination was running away with me, maybe I was jealous but I couldn’t help thinking there is something phoney about the tourist industry. Yes, it brings in a sackful of cash but is that the criteria on which everything is based?

I hear people saying they ‘did’ Berlin or went shopping in New York for the weekend. I’ve seen tourists in West Kerry jump out of their car, take a picture, jump back in and drive off.

Of course travelling can do us great good, broaden our horizons, widen our minds but surely taking a boat and ferry and spending more time at it is a far better idea, and saving our world too.