Will Cork’s Luas be derailed?

On Tuesday it was announced that Dublin's Metrolink will now not be completed for another ten years.That’s according to a draft strategy published by the National Transport Authority (NTA) which also revealed that the Luas line to Finglas will not be completed until after 2031. The Greater Dublin Area Strategy 2022 to 2042 did confirm that a number of other projects will go ahead including DART extensions to Maynooth, Drogheda and Celbridge.

Leo Varadkar said in the Dáil that the Government's priority for now is the development of Bus Connects and DART plus on certain lines, as well as the improvement of cycling and pedestrian facilities.

“You can only do one or two major projects at a time given costs and constraints around skills and staff and that's the priority for the next couple of years,” he said.

Why do I mention all these Dublin projects? Well it was only last week that the NTA published the BusConnects Cork plan. That plan includes the redesign of the bus network - one of nine key elements of the plan that aims to transform the city’s bus system, making public transport more useful to more people.

The proposals in the draft plan will also result in more residents of the city and areas within the Cork Metropolitan Area having access to the public transport network.

It’s also hoped it’ll pave the way for the future introduction of a Luas within the city. Given that the population in Dublin is so much greater than Cork at present, I’d be pretty dubious at the prospect of a Luas in Cork anytime soon. I hope I’m wrong though.

It’s a pretty big week for Irish sport. Two of our marquee men’s teams take on some of the best in the world this week. The Irish men’s senior football team take on Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal who won the European Championships back in 2016 beating France in the final. Since then, they have added some serious talents like Diego Jota, Joao Cancelo and Bruno Fernandes among others.

This is the most positive I’ve felt about an Irish team facing a really strong team in years. We can get a result against the Portuguese.

The men’s senior rugby team take on the All Blacks, always the standard by which every other nation measures themselves. Ireland have beaten the All Blacks twice recently, but the most recent meeting was a pretty facile 46-14 win for New Zealand during the last World Cup in 2019.

Both teams come into the match in their most positive position in years and are building a new attractive style of play that has so far been effective. Will they continue to play a more attacking style?

Let’s hope so and let’s hope that we see two great Ireland wins! COYBIG!