Transport for Ireland needs to wake up and smell the coffee

Public transport has improved

A Dublin Bus hybrid vehicle, PA class.

beyond recognition in Ireland over the past last number of years; the number of services has increased as has the number of routes. Buses and trains are clean and bright. Most rail and bus stations are maintained relatively well.

Transport For Ireland is responsible for many aspects of public transport.

Last week a number of new routes were introduced and there were some timetable changes. The advertising of the changes seems to have been kept a secret from the public.

There are too many glitches with the real time display boards. It is acceptable and understandable there will be errors and problems with the display boards but TFI urgently needs to develop a system whereby  when there is a problem the display boards can revert to a default mechanism, which can inform passengers there is a problem.

Yesterday across Dublin City many of the display boards were showing blanks and those that were working were inaccurate.

At stop 1352 on Dublin’s Camden Street Lower the display board advised passengers that a 122 was due in 19 minutes. The TFI smart phone app said the bus was arriving in four minutes. The bus arrived in 25 minutes.

It is essential that public transport is perceived to be reliable, otherwise it is not fit for purpose and all it will do is drive frustrated passengers back to their cars

Yesterday it took over two hours to travel by public transport from stop 2999 in Dublin 6 to the Navan Road in Cabra.

Wake up Transport For Ireland.

 

Recalling the death of Terence MacSwiney in 1920

On this day, October 25, 1920

Terence MacSwiney

the Lord Mayor of Cork, Terence MacSwiney died in Brixton Prison after 74 days on hunger strike.

McSwiney was born on North Main Street, Cork. He attended the North Monastery CBS in the city, later attending Queen’s College, Cork, now called UCC.

 His father volunteered to fight in Italy against Garibaldi. In later life he emigrated to Australia, leaving his family behind in Cork.

MacSwiney’s mother was an English Catholic with strong nationalist views.

Pictures of Citywest riots flashed around the world

The riots in Citywest have been flashed around the world these last days.

Local people have demonstrated peacefully  for some time about the loss of their hotel, which is now used for people seeking asylum or protection.

The western world is grappling with how to manage the influx of so many people to their shores.

No one has yet come up with a wise and workable solution.

It’s important to remember that the vast majority of people seeking refuge in the West come from countries and peoples who were colonised by the West.

There has been much positive commentary on the Garda operation in Citywest Tuesday and Wednesday nights, praise that is well deserved. It makes perfect sense that in any democratic society there is a police force to protect the people.

Paul Lynch in his award winning novel ‘Prophet Song’ tells the story of a dictatorship gaining power in Ireland and how it uses the Garda to carry out its rule of tyranny.

It’s good to hear the Garda are being properly fitted out to protect the people.

Our prayer must be that we will forever protect ourselves against tyrannical rule, where the Garda become the tool of the tyrant. 

Do Russia and China have migrants landing on their shores? If not, why not?

 

Pope Leo is now confounding conservatives

This in yesterday's Guardian makes for interesting reading.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/22/how-pope-leo-confounds-conservatives-immigration-climate-crisis-poverty-francis?CMP=share_btn_url

The wheels of the bus go round and round but don’t meet

This week’s column in The Kerryman newspaper.

Michael Commane

The Local Link bus system is now well embedded. Buses are traversing across the roads of the State, linking towns and villages. It must be the most exciting addition to public transport in Ireland in a long time. And Kerry is no exception. I doubt there is a town or village that is not served by the Local Link system.

Last week on RTE’s Today with Claire Byrne there was a conversation about how to keep safe on the roads with the advent of winter. A long-time cyclist stressed the key to safety is personal behaviour. We can have all the lights, bells, helmets and hi-vis jackets, but above all we must behave correctly. And that applies too to our Local Link bus service. Personal behaviour is the key. If we are not willing to get out of our cars and travel by bus, then how can we expect the State to continue supplying us with the service?

Why don’t more car users leave their vehicles at home and use the bus? We simply have to change our way of thinking. Climate change is real. 

May I make some suggestions, which I believe will enhance the service across the county. There are five weekday services between Castlegregory and Tralee, indeed six on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. 

I get the impression it’s not fashionable or cool to be seen taking the bus, indeed, dare I ask, is it a class issue? I have no doubt the generations to come will look back on the status symbol of the car and laugh at our silliness. All forms of slavery impede our progress.

To the operator, may I suggest they tweak the timetable so that there is more coordination with trains to and from Tralee. The setup at the stop at the bus station in Tralee is pathetic. No sign where the bus stops, no timetable on display, poor lighting. It exudes depression. There is a tiny timetable in the Bus Éireann complex, but when that office is closed, no timetable available.

One gets the impression there is no partnership or talking between Bus Éireann and the Local Link provider and that makes no sense at all. 

I thought the whole purpose of Transport for Ireland (TFI), which was established in 2009, was to create a seamless national transport system. 

But obviously that’s too much to ask, especially when Bus Éireann and Irish Rail don’t seem to talk to one another at all. There’s no attempt to link the Dingle Tralee bus with trains to and from Tralee. 

One absurd example; a Dingle bus arrives in Tralee at 15.01, train departs 15.05. Would you chance that? Every weekday there are 10 buses from Tralee to Dingle and nine from Dingle to Tralee with just two of those services offering a convenient connection with the train.

Why not  advertise inside and outside on the Local Link vehicles? The print on the current poetry display board in the bus is far too small; large print, very large print is a must on a bus, but it’s a great idea, as is Local Link.

I like the Jack Nicholson quote: ‘We live, we die, and the wheels of the bus go round and round’.

Revenue’s LPT strategy an example in how not to do things

Over the last number of weeks Revenue has mailed over 1.5 million letters to householders informing them that  the Finance Act 2012 (as amended) requires householders to value their property/properties at Novemebr 1, 2025. These valuations will determine the amount of LPT (Local Property Tax)one pays for 2026 and for the four years 2027 to 2030.

In recent days a spokeswoman for Revenue was interviewed on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne. The woman spoke at breakneck speed, which made it difficult to know exactly what she was saying. She rattled off a helpline telephone number. There was a glibness in her tone, which did not prove helpful.

The letter gives a website address. In anyone's language is it as clear as the Revenue spokeswoman made it out to be? No.

Giving people less than a month to complete the required forms gives another sense of glibness.

The letter has three headings: Determine, Submit, Pay.

This sentence on the website: 'Please be advised that the filing of LPT returns and/or payments may take some time to process.’ 

It takes so much time, one is left with no choice but to log out.

The letter is signed by Joseph Howley, Collector -General.

Everything about the letter, everything about the spokeswoman, who was on radio, smells of arrogance and almost disdain.

And no telephone number on the letter, which simply says they couldn’t be bothered taking to us.

Nothing about this campaign is impressive, indeed, they would do themselves no harm if they did a course on good manners and how not to talk down to people.

Mary Kenny’s comments in The Irish Catholic are not helpful

Among the topics Mary Kenny writes about  in her column in The Irish Catholic this week are a united Ireland and Ireland’s passion for Palestine and what lies behind it.

In her piece on Palestine she writes: "Hatred of a Jewish Israel seems evidently part of the pro-Palestine partisans”.

What exactly does that sentence mean? Elsewhere she writes: "Keep pressuring `Apartheid Israel,’ proclaims one of the latest slogans. As is loathing of capitalism."

Again what does that last sentence mean?

She points out how the Gulf States, Arab and Muslim are fully behind Trump's strategy. Has she asked herself why the Gulf States are behind Trump?

All forms of anti-Semitism are evil. I recommend Ms Kenny listen to the podcast in which the late Conor Gearty is  interviewed. It’s the post of Saturday, October 18 on this blog.

Her last sentence on her piece on Irish unity reads: "A United Ireland might pay a dividend, but it will be a different country’.

Surely that’s self-evident. Her comparison with a family reunion is fatuous.

Is it fair to say her piece on Palestine is based on a hunch and her words on a united Ireland say nothing?

Reports on the good side of our humanity

Two letters in the Weekend edition of the Irish Times.

Simple acts of kindness

Sir, – How life affirming it was to read of Mr Brian Hurson’s experience (Simple acts of kindness, Letters, October 16).

For over 30 years this same man in his capacity as a surgeon, rather than passing tools, was receiving tools and instruments as he single handedly looked after the surgical needs of every Irish person with bone cancer in Ireland. I myself would like to believe it’s simple karma. – Yours, etc,

GARY O’TOOLE,

Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon,

Cappagh National

Orthopaedic Hospital,

St Vincent’s Private Hospital,

Dublin.

Sir, – Reading Mr Hurson’s letter today it reminded me of a puncture I had two weeks ago on the busy road between Donegal and Ballyshannon.

I had barely got out of the car before a man pulled up in front of me on the hard shoulder, had his pneumatic jack whipped out of the back of his van and had the wheel changed in an instant.

I barely had time to thank him before he was merrily on his way with the promise from me of a donation to a charitable organisation on his behalf.

Is there possibly a tyre angel in our midst ? Thank you to all who make our day better by simply being their good selves. – Yours, etc,

PADDY HAMILL,

Bundoran,

Co Donegal.

The honesty of Conor Gearty in a sensational podcast

The link below is a must watch.

The late Conor Gearty

Conor Gearty talks to Julian Harris, who hosts The Human Edge podcast.

Conor died in September at the young age of 68.

President Michael D Higgins said he was: "an inspirational human rights figure for young scholars and activists in the field".

Conor was from Abbeylara, Co Longford, studied at UCD and Cambridge. He was professor of Human Rights Las in the law school of the London School of Economics. The Leitrim man was considered one of the world’s most influential experts on human rights.

Among the many comments on RIP.ie is the following: 

"We were so fortunate to have had Conor present to give the Opening Address (and renew acquaintances) at Booktown in Granard in April 2025. 

"On that occasion his fondness for this native place, his wit, and above all his humility lit up the room - he then weaved into the serious themes of Human Rights in language which was inspirational and helped us understand the world's dilemma.

Deep sympathy and prayers to Conor's loving wife Aoife and family, his mother Margot, all his siblings colleagues and those who mourn him. Ar dheis De go raibh.

— Sister Maeve Brady, Granard”

In the link below it’s interesting what he says about insecurity. This has been the best podcast I’ve ever had the good fortune to hear.

https://youtu.be/twCcd7MvE7s?si=Xd5FAw6A8wNsZqBx

Tschüẞ to the daily print edition of Die Tageszeitung

Today marks a special day in German newspaper history.

The daily national newspaper, Die Tageszeitung, also known as taz, is publishing today for the last time its daily print edition.

From tomorrow the print edition will appear at the weekend, the daily newspaper will only be digitally available.

The newspaper first appeared in 1978 and would be seen as an alternative read with Green left tendencies.

It is the first nationwide German daily newspaper to disappear from kiosks and shops.

It was always interesting to see where and by whom Die Tageszeitung was read. It was most interesting too to observe in German Dominican communities who’d be reading taz at breakfast, indeed, also the communities that bought the daily newspaper.

The Wit of the Catholics as per 1971

The Wit of the Catholics compiled by Richard Huggett was published in 1971.

It is a compilation of jokes, comments, funny stories and yarns from the mouths of Catholics and about Catholics.

Some are funny, some corny, no doubt wit changes over time but some of the so-called jokes, especially those about woman would be impossible to print today and are indeed, inappropriate at any time and in any circumstances.

On page 19 the following joke:

There are four things which even God doesn’t know:

1.    How much money a Benedictine has.

2.    What a Jesuit is thinking.

3.    What a Dominican is going to say next.

4.    How many orders of Nuns exist in France.

Another joke, this time on page 9:

“How many people work here in the Vatican?’ asked a visitor. The late Pope John [XXIII] shrugged his shoulders and smiled: “About half of them."

St Thomas Aquinas even questioned his own answers

The piece below is a letter in response to yesterday's blogpost. 

Dear Michael,

Your ‘Occasional Scribble’ for 15 October set me thinking.

It brought my mind back to those nineteen seventies, when, like you, I was a student of theology in Tallaght. The contrast between two contrasting and perhaps opposing attitudes to the search for God and/or for life’s meaning rings bells in my heart and mind as I picture my own ‘spiritual’ journey up to now and its current ‘state of health’.

Yes, I too occasionally hear the kind of ‘religious’ talk that gives the impression that all serious questions have already been answered satisfactorily and that the only ‘pastoral task’ still to be completed is to convince those who do not yet believe that paying close attention to official church documents and even occasional pronouncements from church authorities will clear their path to ‘contented discipleship’. 

And I also hear conversations that pose the big questions, conversations and discussions, discussions that may press the ‘pause’ button without having solved anything but also without losing hope or confidence that some ‘ongoing sense of life’s meaning’ may still be found and identified. 

I am often asked whether Thomas Aquinas or Thomas the Apostle is my ‘patron saint’. My answer, occasionally, is ‘it depends’! When I am or feel secure in my religious belief and thus sense I am moving along the best road forward, then I feel somehow closer to Aquinas, who produced such quality theology, born not only of an inquisitive mind but also of a heart that longed for the support of God’s presence. 

When, on the other hand, I find that doubts arising in my mind aren’t going away and seem even more securely embedded than the theological ‘certainties’ I had been taught by contemporary teachers and interpreters of Aquinas, then my answer might well be ‘the doubting Thomas’. 

Finally, I realised recently that I could call Aquinas my patron even on the darkest days, on occasions when my faith seemed less secure and even problematic. 

St Thomas Aquinas, you see, did not only answer thousands of theological questions convincingly and inspire others for centuries after his time to believe they could also face life’s questions with hope and with an expectation that darkness might yield to fresh daylight. Not only that: Aquinas, 

I realise, also courageously questioned the very answers he had outlined and shared.

Thomas McCarthy, OP

Searching for God among the sick and the downtrodden

This week’s column in The Kerryman newspaper.

Michael Commane

Do you ever have moments that force you back in time? I had one of those last week. 

I was standing in the same car park of a church I remember being in one Christmas morning, probably 64 years ago. There were five of us in the car, mum and dad in the front and the three children in the back. We were going to early Mass so that we’d get it over and then when we got home we’d have all day to play with our presents, eat the dinner and then relax afterwards before my sister and myself prepared a surprise evening snack. 

Yes, we were going to Mass, it had something to do with Holy God but I explicitly remember we were going there and at that time so that it would not interfere with Christmas Day at home. We went up to Holy Communion, received it on the tongue. Some years earlier I had been told never to let my teeth touch the Host.

Sixty four years later I’m standing in front of the same church, asking myself where am I with my faith today.

The previous day I read a religious publication. It left me cold. It was so cosy, supplying all the answers. As if to say this is the only way to God.

The following day I saw that Pope Leo had published the first major document of his pontificate, where he calls on all Christians to make their voices heard in decrying the sinful structures that contribute to poverty and make life for the poor even more miserable than it already is.

I found myself saying that’s more like it. Indeed, this was the sort of thinking that I heard from my mother when I was a child and young man.

When I was ordained a priest in Tallaght in 1974 there was great excitement across the church; Vatican 

Two had happened and its consequences were spreading right down to the pews. We as young Dominicans were building friendships with our fellow clerical students in the Anglican Communion. 

In class we were being told to look at sin as the breaking of a relationship with God. We were reading and studying theologies of other faiths. Social justice was given high priority in our studies. It was a time of exciting questioning.

Tallaght was changing from a village to a large Dublin suburb and the Dominicans played a significant role in the building of community halls, schools and churches.

They were refreshing days. There may have been upheaval but there was honesty and people were not afraid to speak their minds. 

Here we are today and there is no doubt the younger men to whom we are passing on the baton prefer to return to a certainty; God is in heaven; if we do this and that we will discover God. But what exactly is the this and the that? 

Surely it’s the hallmark of the Gospel story to listen to people, to meet them where they are and even to learn from them, especially listening to the marginalised, the sick and downtrodden, because it is there we find God, and through them, God calls us to a deeper relationship with the Divine and humankind.

Filipino boss of the Dominican Order visits Ireland

The Master of the Dominican Order, Filipino,

Fr Gerard Francisco Timoner OP

Gerard Francisco Timoner III is in Ireland at present.

During the nine-year tenure of the Master of the Order he is obliged to visit every entity of the Order worldwide.

During Fr Timoner’s visit to Ireland from October 12 to October 25 he will speak with the 103 Dominicans living in Ireland. He will also visit the Dominican Nuns in Drogheda and the Sisters in Cabra.

Below is a link to the Mass celebrated at Knock yesterday, where a young Dominican made his solemn profession.

Accompanying Fr Gerard on his visit is German Dominican, Fr Thomas Brogl, whose brief covers Dominicans in Ireland and in a number of other northern European countries.

Fr Timoner’s Knock sermon is worth a listen.

https://www.youtube.com/live/dcyvCWS0o_4?si=7teOAvZOsDUPLOOW

An unforgettable interview with the late Manchân Magan

The link below is Manchán

Magan talking from his sick bed, days before he died.

His mood is simply to behold and his knowledge and love leave one dumbstruck. Manchán died Thursday, October 2.

There is something wonderful about the interview, a realness, a genuine man speaking real genuine words. There is also a great sense of love and wonder about it.

A man of love and wisdom speaking real, loving genuine words, words with meaning.

 https://youtu.be/AahB_zREVQU?si=_VijLOR6LR3eK8uJ

An example of how cherry picking doesn’t tell the real story

The letter below appears in the

Weekend edition of The Irish Times:

Out of service

Sir, – Has anyone else noticed that the most frequent bus route in Dublin city centre at present is “Sorry not in Service”. – Yours, etc,

JOAN CHERRY,

Donnycarney,

Dublin 9.

It’s not so. There is an equal number of buses ‘Entering Service’

I am being factious.

As a regular bus user in the capital, it’s accurate and fair to say that the bus service that we currently have in the capital is the best in 0ver 70 years.

Seldom does one see a broken down bus and the buses are clean and generally on time

There have never been as many buses on as many routes in the capital as there are today, and that’s fact.

Maybe both Dublin Bus and Go Ahead are far more forthcoming with information today than they were in the past.

Maybe the name of the letter writer tells the real story.

Recalling the first day of the Second Vatican Council

On this day, October 11, 1962 the Second Vatican Council began its work. It was the first ecumenical council in close to 100 years. 

It brought great hope to the world. It’s now our task to work and pray that the spirit of that council will flourish and be renewed in today’s world.

Pope Leo condemns structures that damage the poor

PopeLeo XIV published yesterday the first major document of his pontificate in which he calls upon all the Christian faithful – especially Catholics – to “make their voices heard,” in decrying the sinful structures that contribute to poverty and make life for the poor even more miserable than it already is.  https://cruxnow.com/uncategorized/2025/10/leo-xiv-publishes-first-major-document-of-pontificate/

Manchán has moved on. We will miss him terribly

Róisín Ingle’s piece in The Irish Times yesterday. In all our lives there are moment of sadness, despair, pain, anger too.

Reading Ingle’s column is a moment to give us all hope, no mater how we are afflicted.

---

Two years ago, Manchán Magan and I sat on a bench in Merrion Square as he told me about his wish to “reanimate” the world.

He said he wanted to spend his life reminding people about the energy that connects them to their bodies, their minds and the land.

He spoke of “animism”, the idea that every rock and flower and branch and rainbow has a vibrating spirit or energy beyond and above what is human.

“I want us to remember that spirit within ourselves and within all things,” he said. “It makes life so much more enjoyable and rich and magical, and ensures that we treat each other and our environment with more love and respect and care.”

I was interviewing Manchán for this newspaper on the publication of his latest book. It was another delightful encounter with a man I had admired for years, bumping into him at writing festivals or at the Electric Picnic or around Dublin town. Each meeting was a pleasure. He never minded me trying out my terrible Irish on him.

I loved hearing his esoteric stories. He had an innocence, a twinkle. He fairly thrummed with goodness.

As everybody has been saying since his spirit left his body, there was nobody else like Manchán. He was both otherwordly and earthy, a sprite of a man firmly embedded in the here and now.

There was nothing preachy about how he imparted his knowledge of folklore, of indigenous cultures, of nature. He was gentle and joyful and unashamedly spiritual.

He was also a dream interviewee. There were no dud sentences when Manchán spoke. I remember how enjoyable it was to write up that interview, his eloquence making it so easy. I recall desperately wanting to find the right words to sum him up. In the final paragraph I described him as one of those “bright, rejuvenating people. . . a beacon of love, courage and curiosity”.

I wrote that after time spent with Manchán, you felt better about all that might be ailing you. Neither of us knew as we sat on that bench in Merrion Square that something serious was ailing both of us. We were diagnosed not too long afterwards.

I heard of his prostate cancer from a mutual friend, just as I was reeling from news of the breast cancer that had spread to my bones. I texted him in solidarity. We struck up an intimate friendship that played out in voice notes and video messages and too-rare but always fortifying real-life gatherings.

Video message

Manchán was a great man for a video message. You’d never know what you might get. There’d be news of the pigs on his Westmeath farm or of a thrifted tweed jacket keeping him cosy on a windswept beach and one time, an exciting dispatch from a noisy square in Mexico City.

The messages arrived in a lyrical mix of English and Irish. He shared health updates and life happenings. We felt the same about our illnesses. We didn’t want pity or head-tilts or cures or blessings. We wanted to live with our health challenges, not be defined by them.

I’ve thought a lot about the gifts that can come with a serious medical diagnosis. One of the most precious gifts cancer has given me is a deep friendship with this extraordinary Irish man. I was keenly aware of how fortunate I was to have him in my life. I’d play Manchán’s messages to my husband, who was equally charmed by his wit, generosity, compassion and wisdom.

The voice note Manchán sent last August to let me know his doctors had found more cancer in more parts of his body came as a shock. As he said in that typically upbeat message, this was not how it was supposed to go. Of the two of us, I was the one that we assumed was more riddled. (It was a relief that we could joke like this. We were not precious about each other’s predicaments.)

I’ve cried a lot these past few weeks. But I am so grateful that I got to say goodbye to Manchán in person, to laugh with him one last time, to hold his hand and witness the love and care between himself and his brilliant wife Aisling.

Since he left, I’ve been going through our messages, remembering how he made me smile and feel and think. I’ve been reading all the beautiful tributes online, in awe of how many lives he touched and his vast cultural legacy.

I’ve been listening back to the audio of that Merrion Square interview. Near the end of our conversation, Manchán questioned how long his success and popularity, both of which came as a surprise to him, would last. “I’ll probably have a year and a half and then I’ll either move on or be cancelled,” he said.

Now Manchán has moved on. We will miss him terribly. And yet he has me fully convinced that we will see him again: reanimated in rocks and flowers and rainbows. Vibrating in the wind and in the trees. Eloquently urging us, as he always did, to connect to the true spirit and energy in ourselves and in all things.

Go raibh maith agat, Manchán, mo chara. Agus grá mór.