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.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
MINISTER SHANE ROSS has just won one battle – but now he has a fresh fight on his hands.
After much filibustering of his drink-driving legislation, it was recently passed through all Houses of the Oireachtas and signed into law by the president. It was a good day, he tells TheJournal.ie in a sit-down summer interview.
Now, with the announcement of an overhaul of Dublin’s bus network, Ross has another challenge to conquer.
The new BusConnects plan will see a continuous bus lane in each direction as well as maintaining two traffic lanes. Cycle lanes will also be segregated from other traffic.
In order to achieve this, large-scale road-widening projects are being proposed which will require the acquisition of sections of around 1,300 front gardens around the city.
“It is a lot [of gardens] and it was a very difficult decision that had to be made by the National Transport Authority (NTA) and then put to me,” admitted Ross, who apologised to the people inconvenienced by the new routes.
It is the price of prosperity that we are paying. I don’t want to cut up anybody’s garden but we are going to give them fairly generous compensation.
And I am sorry it is happening, but it is not really all that many, but in the general interests of moving people in and out of their jobs we have to move people more quickly for point A to point B.
Losing part of people’s gardens “is one of the downsides”, said the minister.
“But there are huge upsides, it is going to cut the journeys for people getting to work by a third or even up to a half, and people are going to be able to move around the city much more quickly as a result of these new routes.”
“It does require some pain for some people, and I am very sorry about that, but in the national interests this has to be done,” said Ross.
Getting real on traffic congestion
The minister said drastic action is needed and Ireland needs to get real if it is going to deal with its traffic issues.
The first information session for the new BusConnects plan took place this week, but there are still many people unsure about the new scheme.
“We’ve got a chronic problem with traffic. We have an overall policy here. We are going to have to move people into public transport otherwise there will just be gridlock at some stage,” said Ross.
Choice words for Permanent TSB
Before having to deal with the issues of tourism, transport and sport as minister, Ross was a well-known journalist, who has written many books on the actions of Irish banks and the repercussions on society.
They have titles such as Wasters, The Untouchables: The People Who Helped Wreck Ireland and The Bankers: How the Banks Brought Ireland to its Knees.
So, it is no surprise that even as minister, Shane Ross has some choice words for Permanent TSB.
This week, PTSB, which is 75% owned by the State, confirmed it sold its controversial Project Glas loan portfolio to an affiliate of the so-called vulture fund Lone Star for around €1.3 billion.
The portfolio contains 10,700 home loans, which the bank has dubbed as “non-performing loans”. A total of 7,400 are owner-occupier mortgages, while 3,300 are buy-to-let properties.
Critics such as Fianna Fáil and the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation accused the bank of dropping the news of the sale when the Dáil was on recess and no one was in Leinster House.
Does Ross believe this was the case?
“I think that it is possible that they held it back until the Dáil was in recess – that is despicable if it is true and that would just be another indication of the manipulations of the banks which has been a characterisation of the banks for a long time.
“I think this probably was a cynical move after the Dáil went into recess so there wouldn’t be too much of a row about it,” he said.
Bankers, we should never forget, are very manipulative, are extremely clever and they have absolutely no interest in the consequences for society or individuals for which they are operating, they are just operating on the basis of a bottom line.
Government should have more say
Earlier in the week, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said his department cannot intervene in the running of PTSB, despite having a significant stake in it. This is something Ross said needs to change.
“There may be a relationship agreement between the Department of Finance and the banks, which forbids the department from interfering in the day-day running.
“I think we should look at that again. If that is the relationship and State-owned banks must act independently, I think we should look at that again, because I think there is a need, particularly with the history of the banks here, for them to behave in a way that is not damaging to Irish society.”
Ross said bankers don’t hold much credence for government, or Ministers for Finance for that matter.
“I think their instincts have always been to defy Ministers for Finance,” he said, adding that while he thought Paschal Donohoe “has been very good and has been very effective” in dealing with defiant bankers in relation to the tracker mortgage scandal, he thinks bankers will always chance their arm.
“I think they always look for ways to eyeball the Minister for Finance as they have always got away with it under previous governments.”
‘Disgusting’ behaviour of vulture funds
Ross said there is a huge difference in how banks treat their customers and how vulture funds treat people.
“I have had dealings with vulture funds on behalf of constituents and their behaviour is absolutely disgusting,” he said. “It is totally and utterly ruthless, they have no interest in negotiating, they don’t give two hoots about people’s feelings and they can send in, oftentimes, these very aggressive, unpleasant young men to basically tell you or your client that they don’t give a hoot.”
While criticisms of the banks is fine for an everyday commentator to make, what is the government, which he is part of, planning to do about it?
Junior Minister Kevin Boxer Moran’s Bill on keeping people in their homes was accepted by Cabinet last week, said Ross, who called the proposed legislation “very significant”.
“It means that when these people end up going to court, the judge is bound to consider the personal condition of the family – in other words, what sort of hardship this is going to cause, and not just the bottom line,” he said.
“That is quite revolutionary – he is going to have to look at it and understand what the consequences for you and society are by taking your home off you.”
Once the Dáil returns in September, Ross wants to see the legislation expedited.
“I think there is an urgency about it that we will have to bring to the Cabinet immediately when we come back in September. It is just a deplorable sight to see cold, ruthless people coming in and buying up loans. These vulture funds are buying these loans because they are going to act in a way that PTSB couldn’t. These people have been sold out and sold to the wolves.”
Seeking a free vote
While that is one urgent issue Ross plans to raise with his Cabinet colleagues upon returning in September, another issue of contention he will have around the table is the Occupied Territories Bill which recently passed in the Seanad, despite government opposition.
It’s emerged Independent Alliance members at Cabinet are divided with Fine Gael ministers over the Bill which calls for a trade ban on goods and services from illegal Israeli settlements. Junior Minister Finian McGrath has called it a “major problem” which has yet to be overcome, despite talks with Tánasite Simon Coveney on the matter.
“It is a point of difference,” said Ross, who added that the Independent Alliance are in favour of measures that eleviate the plight of the people of Palestine.
“Obviously Fine Gael in government is not as well disposed,” said Ross, stating his Fine Gael colleagues are perhaps “not as sympathetic to their cause or don’t appear to be”.
“There will be a robust discussion and we will try and find a solution,” said the transport minster, but ultimately a free vote on the issue would be best, he said.
“It would be no harm if we got a free vote on it I think. That would be an acceptable solution.”
In the first few months of this coalition government, the demand for free votes for the independents in Cabinet signalled a siren to many that the whole thing was on the brink of collapse. And while Ross has previously admitted there was no ‘honeymoon’ period for this government, he appears content that the show has stayed on the road so long – with nearly three budgets under its belt.
But what next for Ross?
He’s running in the next election, that’s for sure, he tells TheJournal.ie. If after the next election, Sinn Féin are in talks with Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael about forming a government, and they were interested in getting some independents on board, would he be interested?
“The last time around we [the Independent Alliance] put down a charter and we said okay, come and talk to us… the only people who came to talk to us were Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. I expect there to be a similar type of arrangement, but we will be at the table.
“Anyone that is democratically elected, you can’t not talk to them, so we’ll put a new charter on the table and say come talk to us on that basis and we’ll see what happens.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
We need to lose part of Shane Ross in the national interest, the TD part.
@genejeanie: I wonder would he be playing the same tune if it was people in Foxrock losing some of their gardens for a bus lane.. I can remember the folk in Terenure were too posh to have a postcode called Dublin 26 when DCC were going to change their postcode from Dublin 6 to Dublin 24 as they thought it sounded too common(Tallaght is Dublin 24, Clondalkin is Dublin 22) So a complaint was lodged by some of the best solicitors in the land and low and behold Dublin City Council backed down and called it Dublin 6W..
In Dundalk in the early 80s a member of the Dundalk North End Punks called Charlie Ross stood in a general election and got all of 40-odd votes. I recall his campaign slogan was “Ross doesn’t give a Toss”… Perhaps it’s a slogan Shane may want to adopt.
He is a mediocrity who slipped through the net to make up the numbers to keep FG /FF liquorice all sorts Government in power. After next General Election he will be gone like a puff of smoke. In the meantime just try to ignore him. He loves the limelight but there’s no substance there.
@John Campbell: I bet you he’ll get re-elected on the 11th count. Irish politics at its best.
Bus Connects does not work. All the spin in the world will not change that. Cut times by a third, in your dreams. The system is flawed as it is designed as a grid system and Dublin is not a grid style city. There was no real discussion with anybody about it
The NTA and transport for Ireland are spoofing a lot about the supposed benefits. The maps of the bus service they use miss out prescient Dublin Bus services to make this new service look so much better. Shane Ross who last year was photographed on a bus with wheelchair users for a campaign about access to the bus for wheelchair users and this system is disabled UNfriendly. From the colour of the bus to the routes they are on, a total and shambolic mess courtesy of the National Transport Authority. Who seem to specialise in those
@Gary Kearney: two dimensional thinking yet again……
@Gary Kearney: it’s clearly not designed as a grid system from even a cursory glance at the maps.
The work on the spines alone will massively improve most people’s commute.
Yep, my local bus (41b) in rural Fingal is being scrapped with no replacement despite a growing population.
The Only way to to keep your front garden is to take to the streets. It’s the Only way this Government will listen to the people.
@Derek Moean: if you stand in your front garden long enough you will eventually be in the streets anyway.
@Derek Moean: Losing part of your front garden in a key bus route in the capital city? Oh the travesty.
The road network in Dublin is a mess, to fix that is going to need CPOs.
@Cathal: Town planning here is even worse. High-rise buildings in somewhere like Sandyford would go a long way to healing traffic problems here. Also, perhaps not housing the long-term un-employed right in the city might also help.
Talk is cheap. Ross is a minister in government. If he believes laws aren’t adequate to correctly influence our banks what is he doing to affect change here?
Not in my….front yard?
Get out of that garden.
I know someone who had a library fine from university in another country. Since then the library sold their debt to vulture fund and a forgotten ten euro fine has suddenly become a thousand euros and they send letters to his mother. The cost of a lawyer to check it out will probably exceed the debt so they might have to pay up.
@SC: wow, what country was that?
@Dave O Keeffe: Narnia
Courageous for any politician to front such an obviously contentious issue.
Surprised Ross is taking it on.
Meanwhile Varadkar is saying that we need to increase carbon tax to pay for the EU fines for excessive carbon emissions.
They are both part of the same government, so wouldn’t you think that Ross and Varadkar would put their heads together to improve the countries electric train network and provide a commuter park’n'ride rail-link into Dublin city centre. We don’t need more buses or cars, we need trains.
Carbon taxes on petrol n diesel will help there nicely forgetting the vast majority outside of the Pale cannot use public transport to get to work .
Mr Ross is all mouth as he was at the farcical Telecom Eireann “shares” meeting
Mr.Ross,National Intetest, no does not work for me.
I wonder how sorry does this utterly incompetent buffoon feel about 1000′s of PTSB customers loosing ALL of their Gardens, along with ALL of their homes
@Joey Dempsey: that’s what they get/deserve for failing to pay their mortgage or negotiating with their bank.
@Joey Dempsey: People with performing loans aren’t losing anything.
@Mairtin Antaine O Conaill: A yes, there’s always one, you’ve clearly not familiarised yourself with the facts relating to PTSB flogging off people’s mortgages, Most if not all where distressed but with restructuring in place, meaning payments of sorts were being paid, PTSB have and despite arrangements thrown people to vulture funds at an approximate price of less than €100k per property, in the process assisted adding potentially an additional 5k to the shambles that is the housing crisis. Millions paid per annum for hotels etc, if this appalling government can waste millions on Hotels, why in god’s name didn’t they avail of the substantial discount offered to faceless vulture funds and arrange manageable agreements with the mortgage holders. You think there’s a housing crisis now, wait and see.
@Joey Dempsey: you
@Joey Dempsey: you can’t reward people for failing to pay their mortgage by giving them a massive discount on the terms of their Mortgage agreement. If that was the case we could all stop paying our mortgage.
@Cathal: yes they are
@Mairtin Antaine O Conaill: so it’s fine to give vulture funds the discount? Bizzare logic
@Cathal: so it’s fine to give vulture funds the discount? Bizzare logic
@Cathal: They absolutely are, PTSB have admitted that there is a percentage of restructured , new arrangement mortgages that are being paid will be sold as part of the sale, the excuse given is customers are in arrears on other loans. I know two families who struggled but adhered to an arrangement for 5 years who got letters last Friday. You’d have to wonder would they have been better off NOT paying.
@Joey Dempsey: it’s quiet simple Joe, I’m shocked you can’t get it. Pay your mortgage if you have difficulty deal with your bank or lose your home.
Well, he won’t have to worry about his own front garden because his is way back off any road and behind a forest of woodland. He’s a very patronising person, especially in the way he felt able to put a €1000 euro price on the grandparents who “help out with childminding”. The governments pushed many women out of the home to work, women whose pay would have been so low that it would not cover childcare, and then didn’t back them up with support services for their children. Now Ross is trying to look like the nice guy, but he still thinks we’re all thick and don’t see what he’s trying to portray :Mr. Nice Guy.
If they are compensated, if I was offered 20 grand say for a bit of my front garden Id snap it up, 20 grand off a mortgage, pay for a childs college education, all for a bit of a front garden. If I was the residents Id get together and say you all want 30k and you all agree to that less headaches for government etc, but I do believe Ranelagh will be affected aswell and the residents there have the money to take it to court etc so offer big big money to them
@Lisa Byrne: it’ll never work. CPOs in the national interest are always going to work.
@Lisa Byrne: The ridiculous thing is that railway tracks were already laid throughout the country and paid for over a centry ago. CIE abandoned most of them in the 1960′s, pulled up the tracks and allowed farmers to help themselves to the land.
Now they wanting to buy it back again, stupid government.
@Cathal:
The CPOs will certainly work but only after a long battle. The NTA will have to pay market value but what is market value? The fact it will be on a major route will have already increased it and the residents know if it is dragged out it will only go up
Another factor can be if some people know that money is coming to them in a CPO, they have funds to buy, which in turn increases prices locally. (that is what happened among farmers during the motorway building phase 20 odd years ago.
Wow! a politician, doing something, to be commended, for me Dublin and the easts transport solutions are slightly further around the city and in to the surrounding counties. Still tho, not doing nothing.
Says a man who stopped apartments been built in his constituency
An underground system is what’s needed. It would solve the problem and it will never be cheaper to build than it is today.
Gas man !! No fear his garden or gardens will be touched
I thought we fought a war to ensure we didn’t have to do what Upper class British politicians told us to do.
@Tony Kennedy: We need another war.
In the interest of Dublin – not ‘National’ Interest
ELEVIATE!!!!!??????? Back to school with you.
The famous words of the biggest gangster of all in politics CJ Haughey. In the national intrest.
Don’t lose your gardens My Man did Well she suffering now after the Dublin Council did
It ain’t pretty, but the plan is great. Well done
This wouldnt be an issue if we started considering more underground rail projects as a priority, you know like every other city on earth? Ireland lagging behind as usual.
Brave man. He thinks he is invincible. Maybe brave but stupid. No way will people allow this to happen. Protests won’t work and direct a toon is needed. Maybe he should lead by example and turn his own garden into free parking for the public.
@Cranky: Ross ignored the Transport21 plan to come up with his own ‘d
Do Nothing’ plan.
If it was Ross’ frontyard would he be so ecstatic about this proposal. It’s always ordinary folk sacrificing everything.
Good day to you all, Am Alex Steve personal secretary to Michael Welsh loan company, We offer loan to all individuals and both companies who are in need of loan. Are you looking for Business loan, Personal loan, Home loan, Auto loan, Student loan, Debt Consolidation loan, Unsecured loan, Venture capital etc, I am a private loan lender, I grant out loans to companies and individuals at a low and affordable interest rate of 3%. Interest. Contact us for the follow up processing of the loan and transfer within 48 hours; EMAIL us today via (michaelwelshloanservice@gmail.com)
I have supported the Minister’s policy on drink driving, & will support his speeding reforms, but not this street widening proposal.
The removal of trees & garden space will magnify the traffic noise & fumes ingress to affected homes & business’s to intolerable levels.
All of the routes listed need to have noise & exhaust pollution monitored & charted at every 10 cm from the existing kerbs to the front of the buildings, & at peak traffic times.The outside levels will move in onto the buildings by the width of the road extension.
The correct solution is to apply a traffic reduction policy of no street parking at any time or anywhere, so that road space is used for travel, not storage of vehicles not in use. Proper kerbside bike lanes should replace the kerbside parking everywhere.
Why are we squandering tax payers money and causing unnecessary stress to households by pressuring 20th century transport infrastructure solutions
We should be preparing for and investing in selfdriving vehicles real 21st century transport
First bit of spine Ross has shown. Won’t last….when some of his own constituents start to complain he’ll fold.
Bees need the front gardens. See the article on the Irish USA collaboration on preserving bees in include this in their strategy.
have your say