‘We have a window of opportunity to make a massive difference to people’s lives’ - Anluan Dunne on sustainable travel in rural Ireland

Green Party representative for Tralee Anluan Dunne writes about the work needed to improve active travel infrastructure and increase public transport options in rural Ireland.

Having grown up and lived in Kerry for most of my life, I can say with conviction that we need more active travel and public transport options.

In the past year I’ve spent a lot of time in Dublin and Cork for work. I use a combination of train, tram, bus, bike-share, my own bike and sometimes a taxi to get around. The availability of easy to access public transport, wide footpaths and cycle lanes are all genuine enablers.

In stark contrast, Kerry’s two major towns, Tralee and Killarney, have no town bus service. Our footpaths are narrow, cycle lanes practically non-existent and junctions prioritise vehicle flow over all else. You cannot take a direct bus from the county town Tralee to Kenmare, Waterville or Tarbert for example. So, when people in Kerry, or other rural counties, talk about being left behind, I don’t disagree with them.

While the Green Party has successfully negotiated a massive increase in funding for measures to support walking and cycling, on a local level, local authorities have been less willing to progress projects which would transform our villages and towns.

Slowly, however, a change in attitudes is becoming visible. The reduction in public transport fares has had a positive impact on the perception of public transport. The result is increased passenger numbers, but more importantly, more people are trying out taking the bus or the train. Clearly the increased cost of petrol and diesel is also a factor which is influencing this behaviour, but few people resist a town bus service, more frequent inter-city trains or any other genuine alternative option to using a private car - particularly younger people when the price is right.

The Green Party has also successfully shone a light on cycling as an option, but for the present it remains for the fit and the brave all across the state. But there is demand - people are asking about it and the schools want their pupils to arrive awake, energised and hungry to learn. We must capitalise on this positive sentiment, no matter how faint or vague it is. And we must do it in a way that is fair to everyone, regardless of whether you live in Bray, Ballincollig, Bantry or Ballyferriter.

We cannot undo a century of mismanagement in one term of government. But we can make smart investments and challenge when a poor investment is made. The question is how do we make local authorities want to deploy better active travel infrastructure? How do we have the National Transport Authority focus outside cities in a meaningful way? How do we provide a successful conveyor belt of projects that aren’t roads?

These are questions worth answering and answering quickly. I remain hopeful that we can work to provide people in rural Ireland with the genuine alternatives they need.

We are the party which leads in this space, and we have a window of opportunity now to make a massive difference to people’s lives. Let us be the catalyst that rural Ireland needs to decarbonise our transport system and enable people to live more sustainable, happier and healthier lives.