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“THERE IS NEVER the perfect time to do the right thing in Northern Ireland.”
I used those words to open an editorial in a Northern Irish newspaper nine months ago as the Irish and British governments gathered at Stormont House in the wake of the horrific murder of Lyra McKee.
We all came up that iconic hill with the words of Father Martin Magill, speaking at Lyra’s funeral, in our ears: “Why in God’s name does it take the death of the 29-year-old woman, with her whole life in front of her, to get to this point?”
Sitting in St Anne’s Cathedral as that wave of applause hit the most senior politicians from the UK and Ireland is a moment I will never forget.
It has inspired and driven me in the months that have passed since. So too have Northern Ireland’s political leaders, who came together and showed leadership and commitment in Derry in the immediate wake of Lyra’s murder.
So what have we all been doing for hundreds of hours in Stormont over the last nine months? Well, we had the odd argument.
But more importantly, we have worked tirelessly through some extremely complex issues to get to the point where both governments are confident that what we published yesterday represents a fair deal to re-establish the executive and assembly in Northern Ireland.
It’s a deal that is unquestionably in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland.
I want to note the words Lyra McKee wrote in the book she never lived to see published.
She said: “Northern Ireland is a beautiful tragedy, strangled by the chains of its past. It’s a place full of darkness and mysteries. It’s also my home. Sometimes I love it and hate it in equal measure. Yet, despite being a tiny country, we disproportionately contribute talent to the rest of the world.”
She’s right. The people of Northern Ireland punch way above their weight in many fields. It’s time their politicians fully represented them.
New Decade, New Approach is a balanced deal that can see the parliament building at Stormont fully up and running after three years.
It can see the elected representatives of the people of Northern Ireland take their seats and act in the interests of the people who elected them.
Northern Ireland is facing real challenges, but also exciting opportunities in 2020. What better way to kick off the new year than by closing the chapter on Stormont’s collapse?
That would respond to the clear demand of the people of Northern Ireland to re-establish the Assembly and the Executive.
By working in the interests of all the people of this island through the North-South Ministerial Council, we would see the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement restored.
I’ll finish where I started: there is never the perfect time to do the right thing in Northern Ireland. But there is the right time. That is now.
I call on all political leaders in Northern Ireland to get back to work.
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“People are slowing down at the go system cameras because they know where they are”. Erm isn’t that the point? Saving lives?! Think the lament is on lost revenue or am I being too cynical?!
That’s how it reads.
Personally I think it it wasn’t about revenue they would have made local speed limit sensitive (dynamic) speed limiters a mandatory condition of sale of vehicles long ago. The technology is there.
There is normally a Gardai speed van just down from the main roundabout at Dublin airport, In all my years working at the airport I’ve never seen or heard of an accident on that particular stretch of road.
It is nothing more than revenue generating ,As for the go safe company didn’t a well known business man get the contract who was a friend of Bertie.
I’d love to see the stats on what speeds people were caught at.
“There is normally a Gardai speed van just down from the main roundabout at Dublin airport, In all my years working at the airport I’ve never seen or heard of an accident on that particular stretch of road.”
Probably because there is “There is normally a Gardai speed van just down from the main roundabout at Dublin airport” and everyone obeys the speed limit so “In all (your) years working at the airport (you’ve) never seen or heard of an accident on that particular stretch of road.”
I take it you are not familiar with the stretch of road that I mentioned, It starts at the major roundabout at the airport and finishes about 1 km when you come to another roundabout for the M1.
Three lanes all going in the same direction revenue generating if you ask me.
I know the road, but you are failing to link the lack of accidents with the presence of the speed van.
No speed van, people will speed and there will be accidents.
The reason you don’t see accidents is, as you say yourself, there is normally a speed van there.
speed cameras have had no effect on saving lives, cause all speed camera are on dual carridgeways and main roads, most deaths occur in the country on secondary roads.
speed cameras just as you come out of airport. N11, N4, N3, . they list these as blackspots, and maybe they were many years ago before they improved the roads, but now they are just easy targeting areas. speed limits are too low for the type of road, you spend more time looking at yer speedo than the road
If speed cameras weren’t about raising revenue then the system would be changed to average speed cameras. Instead of people speeding along the road then slowing down where they know there is usually a van the speeding back up, people would actually have to obey the speed limit on the entire stretch of road.
Also the fact that fpc notices are not sent by registered post is a joke. You can simply say when summonsed that you never received the original charge notice and had no way of knowing you needed to pay and take the 2 points. Judges are copping onto this now and not taking it as a defence, but what if you actually didn’t receive the notice?!! I know people that have appealed to high court after district court didn’t take the above as a defence and it was overturned on appeal
Surely the judges have to take denial of receipt as a defence. The burden of proof is on the state, no? “Prove I received it. You can’t? Ok – see you later.” Shouldn’t have to appeal it at all.
You’d think that wouldn’t you?! But just in the same way a guard can pull you over if he thinks he saw you hold your phone, if it goes to court you pretty much have no defence. A judge will always take the gards word over the member of the publics.
Sending penalty charges by registered post would solve the problem over night. But it’s a broken system from the ground up.
Ignoring lots of this government theft (aka taxes and fines) works. Try it. I’ve stood up to many solicitors and guards ad they back off.
Oh not a popular point of view I see. It is however true that if you go to court for some of these offences they are struck out because a lot of people are being fined because they accept & admit to it. Due process has been replaced in these cases until you stand up for yourself. If you go on youtube you will see how many ways its possible to overturn these offences unless you are doing stupid kmh.
So give people ways to endanger lives without fear of penalty, well done
Endangering lives, don’t talk such manure. Speeding does not kill, bad driving does. You could drive past a ‘gosafe’ van in a with no tax, no insurance, no driving licence, no nct, no brakes, bald tyres, off your tits on coke, speed and LSD, with a boot full of explosives and corpses and as long as you’re watching your speed, you’re safe???
Half tempted to try that out
LIES AND LET ME TE YOU WHY….if speed checks and cameras were about safety they would be highly visible and also people should be given well advanced warnings of where they are like in other countries example on the raidio etc. At the end of the day it is should be about getting people to slow down rather than given points and a fine.
The ultimate aim is to get gossfe to be allowed ti setup anywhere. This will ensure max revenue generation as it basically will be shooting fish in a barrwll hiding and been around corners where speef changes suddenly.
This whole Gosafe as so many know are usually where there is max revenue generation but no crashes etc.
Or you could just follow the speed limits.
Or the yellow. Rick road
How come I don’t see the guards at obvious black spots. There’s a stretch of road near where I live that has a sign saying black spot on it that’s totally dangerous. I’ve never seen a guard there yet on a slip road coming off a motorway nearby which is a three laned mile long downhill bit where they always are. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.it just doesn’t seem to make sense.
Because we have enough Gardai to pull them away from all duties to stand at a Black Spot sign
another money grabing exercise from a pack of no hopers come trhe next election
I honestly dont think speed cameras are having much of an impact on road deaths.They are placed in areas where the roads are 3 and 4 lanes wide with ridiculously low speed limits.its entrapment at best.The M4 at liffey valley being a prime example.Its four lanes wide with a speed limit of 80km/h (think it used to be 60!!) as you come up off the M50 and I for one in all my years driving into work have never seen anything other than a brushing of bumpers on this stretch of road.Id be very surprised if theres ever been a death there since it was upgraded.Its absolutely crazy that such a stretch of road should be subject to the same speed limits you can find down most country lanes where alot of these fatalities happen.How often do you hear of road deaths in the capital at all?im sure they happen but Id love to see the figures of where these accidents actually happen.Its easy to say the cameras are having an impact on road deaths when they’re placed on the widest,best lit and generally safest sections of our roads.
have your say