Pat Leahy: Real change in modern Ireland means really annoying some people

13 comments
  1. Any small change in Ireland means annoying people. Seeing as any development gets complained about till it’s put off. Tall buildings, new cycle lanes etc etc.

  2. Progress is only scary to those overly invested in maintaining the status quo.

    “Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor” ― Alexis Carrel

  3. The Health Service example is not exactly fleshed out. I can guarantee that if every Consultant changes to the new Slaintecare contract that mandates weekend working, you will then have to increase the Consultant workforce by more than 40% . Donnelly has even said as much. But there are zero plans in any of the regional groups to do this. None.

  4. The problem is that the Irish public sphere is full of people claiming you can solve problems without annoying anybody. And our electorate actually falls for it.

  5. How do other EU countries deal with planning hosing developments? Can residents object in the same way or is this only an Irish system and problem? Ireland certainly is not alone with housing issues.

  6. This is spot on. When I moved into my house, all the neighbours had banded together to protest the bus connects plans. I said I supported them (which didn’t make me popular). They were outraged that it would involve making some streets bus only, removal of some trees and CPO of some front gardens. I asked them if they wanted better public transport, they all said yes, but not if it would impact them – as long as it happened elsewhere it was fine. People are inherently selfish, but unless the government starts overuling NIMBYism, nothing will change.

    It’s the same with the health system. A friend of a friend was a consultant hired to implement a new payroll system for hospitals. The consulting firm pulled out of the contract after 100’s of thousands spent on it, as they discovered it couldn’t be done, because Mary works 7.8ths of a job and doesn’t work Tuesdays, Tom was on an old payscale and his contract says he gets 1.2x for working an extra hour etc etc. Unless people are willing to standardise things, which may inconvenience a small number of people, nothing can be fixed and scaled.

    Everytime I see protests to large apartment developments, I point out that there are 3 large apartment blocks that have gone up near me in the last few years. The result has been a plethora of new lovely cafes and shops around the area. I love it!

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