A chara, – Last Wednesday, I had reason to pass along the TCD railings on Nassau Street at 10.50am; I returned along the same route at 12.45pm. On both occasions I saw coaches of various sizes parked on the roadside – with (what I took to be diesel) engines idling. There are notices on this stretch advising that this is a set-down and pick-up area, and vehicles should be parked in the spaces (indicated on the notice) specifically provided for such vehicles, away from this busy thoroughfare.
There was one driver on the footpath on my return trip and I asked him why he allowed his engine to emit fumes, and why he did not turn it off; he did not understand the question (although seemed to be an Irish national); he told me he was waiting for his passengers and had been told they would be joining him. The only difference I noted on my two trips past that one area was that on my return walk there were more vehicles.
Has anyone ever calculated the cost of the fuel involved in this exercise – or even the level of fumes arising as a result – not to mention the potential health implications? – Yours, etc,
PATRICIA CONLAN,
Barna,
Co Galway.