Sir, – “Dublin: Surprising by Nature” is the destination experience brand chosen by Ireland’s tourism bodies to celebrate Dublin’s diversity across communities, heritage, culture and environment.
The brand highlights the distinct beauty of Dublin as an urban destination that effortlessly blends diverse spaces from inner city, to suburban villages, from coast, canals and a river to mountains and from green spaces to open skies.
In 2018, more than 11 million foreign visitors travelled to Ireland to experience the destination for themselves.
As someone who has lived abroad for many years and who has built a career in tourism promoting Ireland to global markets, I find the Bus Connects proposal and campaign deeply concerning. Why would we choose to carve up Dublin’s canvas by widening roads and removing trees?
Can it be that we lack the imagination to devise a plan that serves commuters, communities, heritage and the environment? Can it be that we lack pride in our island and its capital city? Can it be that foreigners appreciate what we have more than we do ourselves?
I live in hope that the National Transport Authority’s revised plans will be truly mindful of the integrity of our unique capital and country. – Yours, etc,
JULIE O’BRIEN,
Rathgar,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – The key objective of the Bus Connects Core Corridor Project is to create a dedicated lane for buses to allow for faster commutes to encourage people to travel by bus, which seems a fairly reasoned and admirable plan.
However, I would note that a secondary outcome would be that there would then be more space on the now bus-less lanes for cars. More space on the current lanes for cars would lead to quicker travel times for car users. Quicker travel times for car users would in turn encourage more people to travel by car (and not bus).
So in effect the Dublin Bus Corridor Project would lead to an increase in car users, which would seems to defeat the original objective. – Yours, etc,
RICHARD COEN,
Terenure,
Dublin 6W.