Candidate Web Site

		*Candidate Web Site* North & East Ward Kieran Cunnane
	*East of the River*

Renmore.. Mervue.. Ballybane.. Ballybritt.. Doughiska.. City Centre.. Tirellan.. Menlo.. Sandy Rd.. Riverside.. Castlegar..

The Western Rail Corridor will change the Country (4 Feb 2004)

Ireland needs the Western Rail Corridor. We could travel from Ballina and Sligo to Cork as recently as 1976, but the motor car became affordable and someone, in their wisdom decided to close the line. Petrol is set to escalate in price over the next 3 or 4 decades to the point where it will no longer be affordable. Ireland faces Kyoto fines unless it does something fast. Dublin is clogging up. The Government has developed a National Spatial Strategy to help spread the load. However, they're continuing to spend huge amounts of money on infrastructure in Dublin, while ignoring the West. The spatial strategy isn't worth the paper it's written on without public transport throughout the Country. The penny hasn't quite dropped but due to public pressure, it soon will.

So the Western Rail Corridor will happen, and if it's implemented by the Greens, here's some of what you can expect:

Park and ride from Tuam, Oranmore, Athenry, Gort and Ennis, with Commuter trains on the hour during peak.
You will be able to get to Shannon Airport by train in less than 1 hour.
Students and OAP's will be able to travel between Sligo to Galway, Ennis, Limerick and Cork by train, also linking up with the Ballina and Westport lines.
Tourists will be able to access much more of the Country with many likely to land in Shannon.
Galway, will be a hub of activity, with the new massive IDA Centre proposed for the Oranmore / Athenry Area.
Airports at Sligo, Galway, Shannon and Cork will all be serviced by train.
A spur will eventually be added to service County Donegal and Derry City.
Dublin will be relieved.
Rural Ireland will be revitalised.

Of course these are what could and should happen, but there are no guarantees. What we need to do is MAKE it happen. We achieve this by ensuring high quality, efficiency and by making it cheaper, easier and quicker to go by train than by car. We mustn't privatise rail because profiteers don't care about the greater good of the Country. The Western Rail Corridor will change the Country, but only if several more pieces of the jigsaw fit together.