Some eyewitnesses were moved to describe as miraculous the fact that no-one was fatally injured when an articulated lorry crashed into a doubledecker coach carrying 70 schoolboys on the Chapelizod by-pass on Wednesday evening. But miracles are rare and any tendency so to proclaim this event can only take from the superb skill of the drivers involved in averting a great catastrophe. By all accounts the accident occurred in circumstances reminiscent of the Wild West; the lorry had to swerve dramatically to avoid two youths riding ponies bareback across one of the busiest dual carriageways in the State. It ended up balanced precariously on the road embankment. Some 48 children and three adults were injured.
The accident has raised important questions about the control of several thousand horses in the Greater Dublin area - notwithstanding the reckless disregard for life shown by the two youths involved. The admission by South Dublin County Council that not a single horse licence has been issued will add to the impression of chaotic lawlessness. The temptation in these circumstances is to demand greater government control and regulation. Indeed these kind of demands were voiced by Opposition deputies in the Dail yesterday. There is clearly an enforcement problem. But it is questionable if regulation alone will prevent a recurrence of such accidents or provide a safer environment for roadusers. There is already a welter of legislation in place. At least as serious as the lack of enforcement is the chasm that appears to exist between the world of officaldom and the very different world that exists in some deprived areas in Dublin city and suburbs.
The reality is that the current body of legislation is entirely irrelevant to the so-called "urban cowboys". According to the regulations, horses must be licensed for a fee of £25, have a microchip ear-tag and enjoy proper stabling facilites. Most of those who own the estimated 3,000 unlicensed horses in the Dublin area are scarcely in a position to comply with these regulations. Indeed for many of them `horses are all we have to keep us out of trouble', as one 13-year old from Ballymun observed in this newspaper earlier this year. The local authorities in Dublin are now anxious to reassure the public that unlicensed horses will be rounded up, that the law will be rigorously enforced and that the danger to road traffic caused by horses will be minimised. That must be done. But there is a danger that this approach - if taken on its own - will deepen the sense of alienation among many workingclass youths.
A more constructive approach might be to build on the passionate love for horses evident in many areas and to provide the kind of back-up resources - the shelter, land, fodder and veterinary care - that will safeguard the animals' welfare. And the safety of the general public.
It is, of course, the case that the State has an obligation to ensure that the law is applied. But it is also true that it has failed to provide many urban communities with the kind of social and sporting infrastructures that their young people so badly need. The urban horse craze will not disappear even if the laws are enforced rigorously and new regulations are devised. It is time legislators recognised this by responding to the problem with some imagination. And, unhappily, with a good deal of public money.