Greetings, It seems that the third successive deadline for metrication of speed signs in Ireland will, like the two before it, be missed.
I contacted the Roads Section in the Dept of Transport (after the last election in May, responsibility for roads was transferred from the Dept of Environment to the Dept of Transport, although the same civil servants are involved) about the status of the planned metrication. I had reason for some optimism as the AA newsletter referred to the December deadline, in what was the first public mention of the project. Unfortunately, the person I spoke to said that it wasn't going to happen this year, as no funding had been allocated to it in the budget, and even if funding were to appear now, they would not be able to do it over the summer at this short notice. I am very disappointed, though not really surprised. The Dept of Environment has been dragging its feet on this since the 1st deadline of 1998-12-31. The new Minister for Transport, Seamus Brennan, was quoted in a newspaper article recently (I didn't see it) as being in favor of the change, but the real problem is getting any priority on it, against a background of budgetary cutbacks. A second problem is given the virulent anti-motorist thinking infecting many government bodies at the moment, the temptation will be to take advantage of the changeover and lower all the speed limits (in much the same way as certain unscrupulous merchants hid price rises in the euro changeover). This would have the effect of making metrication unpopular with the motoring public. I will certainly write to the Minister, and to the Minister for Trade, Mary Harney, whose dept set the deadlines, urging her to refuse to grant any more extensions. I hope any other Irish residents on this list will do the same. Other EU citizens might also consider writing to them asking why this is not being done, given the high proportion of EU funding that goes into our roads. I'll keep you informed of any developments. Tom Wade
