Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Services closing, lack of transport and young people leaving - the causes and cost of rural isolation

Many local businesses are being forced to shut their doors and vital services are diminishing at a fast pace.

GARDA STATIONS AND post offices closing, banks becoming cashless, and now publicans saying potential stricter drink driving laws could close pubs across the country – rural Ireland says it’s becoming isolated.

In 1968, the late John Healy wrote Death of an Irish Town, later republished in 1988 under the title No One Shouted Stop.

At that time, people were emigrating from the Mayo town of Charlestown with no plan to return as there were no opportunities for the people there.

Today, nearly 50 years on, many people in rural Ireland say their towns and villages are being decimated all over again. Many local businesses are being forced to shut their doors and vital services are diminishing at a fast pace.

Some 139 garda stations were shut between 2012 and 2013.

In the past 25 years, 777 post offices have closed across the country.

Earlier this year, reports emerged that An Post was considering the winding down of 80 branches in an effort to plug its €12 million annual losses.

Rural Post Offices Will Be Closed Down A closed post office in the town of Ballybay, Co Monaghan. Laura Hutton Laura Hutton

Some banks have withdrawn over-the-counter services and moved towards ‘cashless’ models. Over the summer, Bank of Ireland went cash free in 100 branches across the country, while Ulster Bank went cashless in five locations at the end of June. Fianna Fáil spokesperson on Regional, Rural, Gaeltacht and Island Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív described the move as a huge insult to rural residents.

Just this week, there were calls for the government to save the Valentia Ferry, which carried more than 100,000 cars to the island over the summer season.

Speaking to The Kerryman, ferry manager Richard Foran said saving the ferry was an “acid test” for the government’s commitment to rural Ireland and if it isn’t saved, it proves there is little interest or appetite to help in Leinster House.

No heart 

Justin Gleeson, director of All-Island Research Observatory, says there has been a trend in the past 15-20 years to build on the periphery of towns and there has been a certain amount of core decay in the smaller towns across the country.

Many people who live in towns close to Dublin spend multiple hours a day commuting. The latest figures from the Census show that almost 200,000 commuters spent an hour or more commuting to work last year, which represents an increase of almost 50,000 on 2011 (that’s 31%).

The census area of Laytown-Bettystown-Mornington, three towns in Meath, had the highest percentage of commuters with 28% of its 4,565 workers travelling during the week. The local town for those three areas is Drogheda.

Last year during a visit to Drogheda, locals told this website that it was “a town without a heart” -  many were convinced that a lack of parking and accessibility was what pushed shoppers out to nearby retail parks, leaving the town searching for its lifeblood.

shop-st-2 Drogheda Cliodhna Russell Cliodhna Russell

That sentiment can be echoed in towns and villages across the country. In Manorhamilton in Co Leitrim, the last newsagent on the main street of the town closed down in the past few weeks.

It was one of several businesses that closed on the street in recent years.

Employment is high in the town as there are several factories located around it but the owner of Bredin’s Newsagents, Arthur Bredin told Brian O’Connell from the Sean O’Rourke Show on RTÉ Radio 1, “We’ve tried everything we could to keep it going.

People want to be able to pull up at the door and run in and run out, there’s no support for small shops anymore.

“The bigger supermarkets have done away with little shops … We’re going to take a bad hit but a decision had to be made, it has been hemorrhaging money or the past 14 months.

“It was death by a thousand cuts but probably the last 100 cuts were the parking and the introduction of the traffic lights. Everyday the traffic is backed up the full length of the main street and no one can pull up and pop in.”

Joanna Keenan has operated the butcher shop in Manorhamilton for 30 years and she says 2017 has been the hardest year of all.

“Our business has dropped 30%, nobody can pull in the car to run to the shop anymore, the traffic lights have caused tailbacks all over the town.”

Transport

As residents in rural communities cry out for more services, Minister for Transport Shane Ross says he is currently looking at “creative solutions” for transport needs in those areas.

It comes as the minister has proposed a Bill that will see people automatically disqualified from driving if caught over the alcohol limit.

The Cabinet has endorsed the changes to drink-driving laws, but a decision has not yet been made on whether non-Cabinet members of the party will get a free vote on the issue.

Speaking about the impact this Bill may have on rural Ireland, Ross admitted that there are real issues to do with rural isolation which need to be examined.

“A number of people have raised the issue of social life – particularly getting to and from the pub – in rural Ireland.

While I do not for a moment accept that my proposal will be damaging to rural Ireland, I do agree that there is an issue of social isolation in rural areas and a need for creative thinking to help people get out and about, meet friends and have a drink, and get home safely.

He said transport is a major factor.

1124 Road Traffic Bill_90518139 Leah Farrell Leah Farrell

“We all know that there are more alternatives to using one’s own car in urban than in rural areas.

“Some possible solutions are car-sharing, vintner-provided transport, or wider rural transport solutions, but there are challenges for all of these options. If solving the problem was easy it would have been done long ago.”

Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) Chief Executive Padraig Cribben said, “The minister and his department have no proposals or solutions to the problems his legislation will cause.

The minister appears to think it is the responsibility of other organisations to solve transport infrastructure problems.

“The issue of publicans driving customers home was raised but for most pub owners this is not a practical solution.”

‘Discriminate against rural Ireland’

Mike Power, who runs The Cat’s Bar in Cappoquin in Waterford, says Ross’s plans will “drive people into further isolation, close community outlets across the country and cost a lot of jobs”.

Speaking to TheJournal.ie earlier this year when the Bill was first announced, Power asked: “Is it safe to drive after a glass of wine? I suppose if we had equal transport there would be no excuse but we just don’t have that.”

This point was also made by a spokesperson from Irish Rural Link, the national network representing rural communities.

Its spokesperson said that while the organisation has a zero tolerance towards drink driving “it has grave reservations with the measures being proposed for first time offenders who are assessed with minimum levels of alcohol in their system”.

They added that the measures “unfairly discriminate against rural Ireland where families are reliant on their car, in the absence of alternative transport”.

There are little or no alternative transport for people and families living in rural Ireland and a suite of transport measures for rural areas need to be explored.

Irish Rural Link said it would be in favour of increasing the fine and/or penalty points for those found with the minimum level of alcohol on a first offence.

Ageing population

Gleeson told TheJournal.ie that while the population of Ireland has grown 3.7% in the last five years, the All-Island Research Observatory has noted a decline in many rural areas.

The last Census showed a 20% increase in the population of people over the age of 65 who will have “entire new needs for services”.

There are big issues down the line as to how the country is going to deal with this, especially as many of the elderly live in rural areas with limited services.

He said the latest Census figures also showed that emigration is lower than expected but he added that now we have a lot of internal migration, where people are moving from rural to urban areas for work.

shutterstock_405855937 File Photo LMspencer LMspencer

Speaking about the economy, he added that employment has increased everywhere, but Dublin and Eastern areas are doing the best, adding, “A lot of rural areas are still suffering quite a lot.

The population in many rural areas is getting older and isn’t being revitalised as no young people are moving into these areas and there’s a risk of continuous decline.

Gleeson said that public transport and broadband, things urban dwellers can take for granted, are still major issues for rural Ireland.

He added that while it can be difficult to build these services in areas with a scattered population, broadband could be key to encouraging people to move back to rural areas.

“People are willing to live in non-urban areas, some people are moving west.

Broadband would revitalise these towns, people don’t need to be in big offices in cities to do a lot of their work, but they do need to be able to work online. The broadband strategy could deliver that.

This month Clare became the first county to launch a rural development strategy, which has a 4,000-jobs target, following the Government’s Action Plan for Rural Development.

Digital hubs will be established throughout the county to support rural enterprise by facilitating e-working, small-scale training and conferencing.

Rural transport initiatives, such as a type of ‘rural Uber’, community car pooling and community bus services are also earmarked under the strategy.

‘Cinderella department’

The Department of Rural and Community Development was established this summer “to provide a renewed and consolidated focus on rural and community development in Ireland”.

However, Fianna Fáil’s Ó Cuív has described Michael Ring’s team as the “Cinderella Department” in terms of budget and functions.

He said it is by far the smallest government department with a limited remit and a budget of around €16 million.

“Despite the miniscule funding allocation being transferred to the new department, it now also looks unlikely that the Minister will be able to spend the funding this year – which could result in the department carrying money into next year, or handing it back to the Exchequer at the end of the year.

“This new department will pay the price for the other departments’ failure to manage their budgets directly, and communities in rural Ireland will be at a disadvantage as a result.”

Read: ’Only a Dub would bring this in’: Rural Ireland angry with plan for drink drivers to get automatic ban>

Read: ’Desperately unfair’: Bank of Ireland accused of leaving elderly behind as 100 branches go cash free>

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
58 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute MikejG
    Favourite MikejG
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 8:02 AM

    I’m from “rural Ireland” and would love to move back home. All I need is a decent internet connection. Good broadband infasturture could be the rebirth of rural areas. So many jobs can be done remotely now.

    177
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Marek Dąbrowski
    Favourite Marek Dąbrowski
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 8:55 AM

    @MikejG: what about the mobile networks? What is the speed when using those?

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Patrick Cat #2
    Favourite Patrick Cat #2
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 9:55 AM

    @Marek Dąbrowski: 4G is very fast do the speed is not an issue, the coverage however can be

    24
    See 7 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute mickmc
    Favourite mickmc
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 9:57 AM

    @Marek Dąbrowski: Vodafone would be decent enough in most town of more than a few 1000 people who have fiber anyway. After that it very much hit or miss. More times miss than hit actually.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gavin Daly
    Favourite Gavin Daly
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 10:03 AM

    @MikejG: its interesting how the discourse on people living in isolated locations working away on laptops has gained such a foothold. The reality is that few jobs can be done in this way – IT companies still need to be in cities

    16
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute WilhelminaMCallaghan
    Favourite WilhelminaMCallaghan
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 11:38 AM

    @MikejG: Im in rural Ireland spend most my time either in dublin or Belfast . There’s nothing here . Nothing . As for internet about 2bars today once it rains forget it no broadband , we ask they say oh you live 50some km away from exchange . Water service is private scheme that ruined my home as we were not aloud to have a valve in the property so in2010 pipes froze and burst damaging the place ( 150k I don’t have worth of damage that insurance didn’t cover and builder created worse ) the house is inhabitable since but it’s all I got left and that’s fighting the banks . Bus forget it . Shops drive up some 30 mins . Pubs don’t know I hear they close I don’t go out . Post drive 30 mins . Gardai closed, drive 30 mins .
    Work ( when I can get some )drive 3 hours . Schools don’t know I hear is not great . I think there’s some 7-20 maybe people who live here . I don’t imagine they be very young though
    I wish to god I didn’t buy this place, my neighbor ( not a local person , local people are nice ) is an a**hole and I have an acre of land I can’t use I live in fear because of her causing trouble for me .
    Mostly I sleep in friends couches shower at their place wash my clothes on them wonderful blessed machines they have now in the petrol stations . In the cities . I NEVER EXPECTED TO LIVE LIKE THIS. Is disgraceful . I am wasting the last best years of my life as a nomad paying for a shack I have no idea how the hell to fix .
    I can’t give up on my home as I would not get a mortgage , I just want floors a kitchen made of counter and shelves , a cooker a fridge . Heating in the winter , but hey guess what now I’m told I will have to fight to get me a 2 meter fence and 2metal garages on the side of my home ( I am not even including the garden that plantation of wilderness into it I just want that stupid woman to stop meddling in my life by getting a fence right just around the dam house for privacy ) I’m told planing permission . For a fence ? 2 metal garages to put my stuff in it ? Ah yeah . Living the dream

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute WilhelminaMCallaghan
    Favourite WilhelminaMCallaghan
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 11:39 AM

    @Marek Dąbrowski: 3G of and when you can get and two bars here down the border

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gulliver Foyle
    Favourite Gulliver Foyle
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 11:46 AM

    @WilhelminaMCallaghan: it all depends on where you are. I spend half my time in rural Donegal, and have no issue at all with teleworking from there, including video conferencing. Unless you are thinking of running servers for your business (which doesn’t make sense in today’s cloud), then three vast majority of rural locations can be used. I would be surprised if any commentator was withing 5km of a small town and didn’t have mobile broadband.

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute B9xiRspG
    Favourite B9xiRspG
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 11:55 AM

    @Gulliver Foyle: I’m half mile from small town /village and 10 miles from large town. Our exchange had been on the list for upgrade for last ten years. Bloody joke.

    4g is spotted but I can get Vodafone but that’s 15g a month limit. Try keeping to that with work, you tube, xbox live, Netflix etc. It’s impossible.

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Finn H. Schoyen
    Favourite Finn H. Schoyen
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 8:08 PM

    @MikejG: I have to agree. A good broadband connection can lift the rural areas a lot.

    Sure, many claim to get by with 8 megabit ADSL, but there plenty more that can be done with 50 megabit or higher downstream, and upload speeds daycint enough to send the occasional large draft file for the few who have that kind of job (e.g. print design and occasional edited videos), say 15-20 megabit.

    Not only do the rural communities need a fast connection at their end, but the backbones leading out to all these areas also need to be on very fast fibre.

    Run a web shop? Host it in the ‘cleud in Dublin, and let the orders tick in to the back office of your little boutique in Ballydehob. :-)

    Learn from Sweden, where broadband expansion has been massive even to the rural areas for the past two decades.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Shane Nolan
    Favourite Shane Nolan
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 7:42 AM

    I have terrible internet 200kbs when I download a game when I can I’m leaving where I am. I’m 4km from Carlow town and I am probably never getting fibre to be honest. There needs to be more investment in towns and more jobs allocated to areas outside dublin. There is much more allure now to live in Dublin, if they can give incentives for young people to stay in rural areas it would also benefit Dublin, as it may ease up the pressure on the housing crisis.

    83
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gavin Daly
    Favourite Gavin Daly
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 9:35 AM

    @Shane Nolan: you live 4km from the town – hence, poor broadband

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute mickmc
    Favourite mickmc
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 9:52 AM

    @Gavin Daly: That is a fact. Are you saying it’s acceptable to have poor/no broadband just because someone lives 4km or even 24km from a local town. Access to Decent broadband is now as essential as electricity and I don’t hear to many people saying electricity is a service which only should be reserved for some citizens of the country.

    40
    See 10 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gavin Daly
    Favourite Gavin Daly
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 10:07 AM

    @mickmc: no, not at all. There should be a principle of equal living conditions. – as in Germany, for example. However, the onus is then on planning policy to only permit houses to be built where infrastructure and services can be provided at reasonable cost to the general taxpayer. Either that, or we need a massive increase is taxes. As things stand, isolated rural dwellers will continue to have inferior and/or withdrawn services.

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute mickmc
    Favourite mickmc
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 10:22 AM

    @Gavin Daly: Well that’s your opinion and your entitled to it. Thankfully it not share by the powers that be. Incidentally compared to the once off cost of connecting every house in the country to fibre how much do we tax payer( including rural dwellers) pay annually to keep Urban dwellers with Public transport, lighting and dare I say water. It a hell of a lot more than the once off cost of the Rural broadband scheme.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ben McArthur
    Favourite Ben McArthur
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 10:27 AM

    @Gavin Daly: Exactly. Germans don’t live in the countryside. They collect in the small towns. The result is viable sized communities, reasonably priced infrastructure and a landscape not dotted with ugly grey bungalows.

    16
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gavin Daly
    Favourite Gavin Daly
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 10:29 AM

    @mickmc: Yep, its not shared by the powers that be and thats why there is no rural broadband! Its been promised now for the best part of 15 years. Its not about urban v rural – thats a false dichotomy – most ‘rural’ dwellers work in towns and cities, its about maximising service delivery within the fiscal resources available for the benefit of everyone.

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gavin Daly
    Favourite Gavin Daly
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 10:32 AM

    @Ben McArthur: yep. In Germany there is a constitutional right to ‘equal living conditions’. Hence, there is a massive onus on the planning system to produce settlement patterns which strive towards its achievement. In Ireland, we have the precise opposite. People wish to live where they want and then demand the services rolled up to their door.

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute mickmc
    Favourite mickmc
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 10:50 AM

    @Gavin Daly: Apart from Electricity what services is rolled to anyone door in rural Ireland?

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gavin Daly
    Favourite Gavin Daly
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 11:07 AM

    @mickmc: roads, waste, post, ambulances, other emergency services, social care, healthcare, schools, school transport, Gardai, some water services, broadband..the entire suite

    btw and I said “..demand the services rolled up to their door”. The reality is of course that it is possible to deliver these services efficiently or effectively in conditions of dispersed settlement patterns. Hence, why they are so poor.

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gavin Daly
    Favourite Gavin Daly
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 11:31 AM

    @Gavin Daly: *not possible to deliver..

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute WilhelminaMCallaghan
    Favourite WilhelminaMCallaghan
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 11:44 AM

    @mickmc: €300 a bill electricity . And pitch darkness outside . Ah yeah the €340 bins that are only collected every two weeks .

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gavin Daly
    Favourite Gavin Daly
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 12:01 PM

    @WilhelminaMCallaghan: ironic that people move out to the countryside for pastoral lifestyle and to get away from it all – then are fed up at the quality/cost of services!

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute mickmc
    Favourite mickmc
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 7:33 AM

    In all fairness you can’t expect a post office or a garda station at every little crossroad across the country. Give us decent broadband and you could justify shutting a lot more post offices. The simple fact of the matter a lot of these services are not need. I don’t when the last time I stood in my local Post office or even pub for that matter.

    54
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Patrick J. O'Rourke
    Favourite Patrick J. O'Rourke
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 11:32 AM

    @mickmc: I’m in my local PO a lot nowadays. They’ve had a shot in the arm and it’s called Addresspal. It’s the best thing they’ve ever done.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gulliver Foyle
    Favourite Gulliver Foyle
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 11:50 AM

    @mickmc: you could have a Garda station and post office in every town if they were run privately. The problem is the cost of running each individual one of these is over a million each due to inefficiencies and pay in public service. A post office, like any shop, could be ran by an employee on minimum wage, but instead they are personal fiefdoms of individuals of inflated ps pay and pensions.

    8
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jho Harris
    Favourite Jho Harris
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 2:57 PM

    @mickmc: Very short sighted there; perhaps you don’t need a post office now but they are a great boost to older people in rural areas. For some reason most of the pensioners know their pension becomes out on Friday but you seem to think they want to get the cash as early as possible not thinking that they get a great social boost from going early and meeting up with their peers. All going well you will find that out for yourself one day.; P.S. is there anything else you never use that you would like gotten rid off?

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Chris Kirk
    Favourite Chris Kirk
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 9:00 AM

    The decline of rural Ireland started with the disbanding of railways back in the sixties and not replacing rural parts of the country with a viable public transport service. The next decline has been the rationalisation of agricultural services and creameries where bulk milk collection means that farmers no longer need to go to the creamery with their milk or collect the milk cheque. this also lead to the decline of the pub trade where many farmers cashed their cheques and met up with other farmer neighbours. Then the banks closed making smaller branches unnecesary and forced people to go instead to larger towns. All of the above have lead to the unfortunate decline of rural populations and village life in Ireland.

    45
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Daniel Donovan
    Favourite Daniel Donovan
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 9:45 AM

    @Chris Kirk: I agree. There was a time when you coukd hop on a train in Dublin and go to any major town in the country. Looking at old railway just mkes you think of how much infrastructure was lost when these lines to rural areas in places like Galway, Donegal, Kerry, etc, were removed. A real shame.

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute iohanx
    Favourite iohanx
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 7:17 AM

    The government should approach Google or Tessa and offer a town in Ireland as a test location for driverless cars. Am sure many towns would compete for the opportunity.

    45
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute iohanx
    Favourite iohanx
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 7:18 AM

    *Tesla

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Nick Allen
    Favourite Nick Allen
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 8:23 AM

    @iohanx:

    And how would that increase business or generate money?

    13
    See 2 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute iohanx
    Favourite iohanx
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 8:51 AM

    @Nick Allen: have a think about it.

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jho Harris
    Favourite Jho Harris
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 4:01 PM

    @Nick Allen: Brainless people would pay way over the odds to live there

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute (((Noel Hogan)))
    Favourite (((Noel Hogan)))
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 7:52 AM

    Encourage people to build and live near or in their local village and they’ll use the services there. If they can walk to it it’s convenient. If they have to jump in the car they are more likely to drive to the nearest big town.

    41
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute P.J. Nolan
    Favourite P.J. Nolan
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 8:15 AM

    @(((Noel Hogan))):
    Agreed we do have a fondness for the house and half an acre in the country. (My own parents did it when they retired)
    Any politician who tried to restrict it had to pull back fairly quickly, only for people to turn around and then complain about lack of services.

    39
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Maye
    Favourite John Maye
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 8:46 AM

    @P.J. Nolan: You know very little about today planning laws to make a comment like that

    7
    See 2 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gavin Daly
    Favourite Gavin Daly
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 9:39 AM

    @John Maye: 1,273 one-off dwellings permitted in Q1 2017 ad compared to 2,481 multi-unit dwellings and 1,387 apartments. The average size of a rural dwelling is 3,315 sq.ft!

    Since 2001, >170,000 one-offs have been permitted. While there are individual hard cases, overall its relatively straightforward to get permission

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute WilhelminaMCallaghan
    Favourite WilhelminaMCallaghan
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 11:49 AM

    @Gavin Daly: can I get planning for my fence I want a 2 m fence just around the house itself to safe guard my privacy from evil neighbour I am in an acre of land I just want to be left alone and I want two metal prefab garages to empty the house off my things so I can try see what I can do to fix it . I rang them planning people they say I need permit as soon I put the notice out you know that devil beast of a nosy cow will object . I need privacy I can’t stand people intruding in my life and every time she decide to p.ss me off it is costing me more money I don’t have with her stupid complains .

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute nikki
    Favourite nikki
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 9:01 AM

    Where I live in the west we have one bus every day that goes to Dublin. No other public transport. So if you don’t drive you are really stranded and have no employment opportunities.
    The ridiculously high insurance premiums also prevent people from driving so it’s catch 22.

    42
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Michael Heery
    Favourite Michael Heery
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 3:22 PM

    @nikki: the tax take from motorists is unbelievable , tests etc all painfully expensive..

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute JustOneScoop
    Favourite JustOneScoop
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 7:59 AM

    Whole article and core focus is alcohol, what about the cynical move by Eir messing with the NBP insuring we still don’t have adequate broadband for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across the country. That’s the governments responsibility

    30
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Shane Nolan
    Favourite Shane Nolan
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 8:35 AM

    @JustOneScoop: national broadband plan a myth to me!

    18
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Frank Dubogovik
    Favourite Frank Dubogovik
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 10:25 AM

    @Shane Nolan: “national broadband plan” …..isn’t that just a soundbite around election time??????

    9
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute B9xiRspG
    Favourite B9xiRspG
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 11:59 AM

    @JustOneScoop: I remember comparing the nbr coverage plan with eir upgrade plan. Ut was like for like.

    What happened to the plan for ebs to use power lines to bring broadband to all. Eir did, stopped it in its tracks !

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Shaner Mac
    Favourite Shaner Mac
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 8:58 AM

    Rural Ireland must take some responsibility with its blight. Dreadful planning with one-off housing scattered everyone while the towns and village have major levels of dilapidation. Services are near impossible to provide with such s dispersed population.

    28
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Chris Kirk
    Favourite Chris Kirk
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 9:06 AM

    @Shaner Mac: Dilapidation of towns and villages is mainly due to lack of community business especially for pubs, together with an ageing population when there is no viable employment opportunities for younger people.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gavin Daly
    Favourite Gavin Daly
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 9:46 AM

    @Chris Kirk: the reason there is no community businesses is the lack of people in the towns/villages. Rural Ireland has basically become a giant dormitory suburb for urban Ireland
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DIt0y4lWsAEAsJ4.jpg:large

    12
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Shaner Mac
    Favourite Shaner Mac
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 9:53 AM

    @Chris Kirk: If more people actually lived in the towns and villages then they could easily walk to these businesses, instead they have to drive several miles. One of the business owners in the article decried the lack of access for cars, but if potential customers could simply have strolled in they would’ve got more business.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rochelle
    Favourite Rochelle
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 8:00 AM

    It’s sad but this is the public speaking, ease of access and free parking is now a must for any sort of routine shopping and nobody wants to try and find space along a main street. Retail parks, shopping centres and online are the present and future of shopping, these retailers need to adapt if they wish to survive.

    19
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Windy Atlantic Way
    Favourite Windy Atlantic Way
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 9:51 AM

    It’s happening all over again, government pump the cities with all the jobs , increasing house prices etc & forgetting rural ireland again. Their wind farm scam Developers are now destroying parts of rural ireland by driving people out of their communities & homes & making Rural Ireland more rural all while looking after their buddy developer. Another white elephant trotting down the road .

    24
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Shawn O'Ceallaghan
    Favourite Shawn O'Ceallaghan
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 10:17 AM

    Why doesnt thecpub organise its own minibus/taxi to get people too and from the pub. I simply don’t think exceptions should be allowed when it comes to drink driving.

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Brian O Reilly
    Favourite Brian O Reilly
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 10:31 AM

    The old hubs of social interaction in these towns (Church,Post Office,Banks,Libraries,Public Houses ,are all disappearing.the local schools are just dropping off points for overburdened children(those backpacks!)as their parents speed off to distant work places
    Impotent local public representatives,who no longer have any input,as Government Departments give up responsibility for Municipal Services to privatisation.
    Tip O Neill once said all politics is local and he was spot on ,its quality of life issues that must be addressed

    5
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jonathan Power
    Favourite Jonathan Power
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 9:54 AM

    And the government wants to rehouse the homeless in rural Ireland. You couldn’t make this stuff up.

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gavin Daly
    Favourite Gavin Daly
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 9:22 AM

    @Shane Nolan: you’re 4km from the town – hence poor broadband

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Con Murphy
    Favourite Con Murphy
    Report
    Sep 17th 2017, 10:11 AM

    True of course, but nobody in power cares. Given today’s opinion poll on the political parties that is not going to change.

    2
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel

 
JournalTv
Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
      News in 60 seconds