I last drove in Ireland in 2002. By that time metrication of roads signs (apart from speed limits) was in full swing. All the new signs on the main roads were in kilometres, but the traditional "fingerpost" signs, often made of cast iron showed miles (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_signs_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland). It is my understanding that as miles signs reach the ends of their useful lives, they will be replaced by kilometre signs.
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Han Maenen Sent: 05 December 2009 10:07 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:46261] Re: Ireland Tom, I will have to take pictures or even film them when I am in Ireland again. The old mile markers are made from stone, the new ones are modern metal signs.I saw them on all intercity lines I travelled on this year. They use quarters of a mile, the rounded miles are given for instance: "125 M.P." I reallly think that such distance markers are a thing of the past with the navigational aids we have today. I am searching on You Tube through videos about Irish Rail, if I can see one of these mile markers. I have to disagree with you about their lack of innovation spirit. Irish Rail is rolling out superb inter city trains and I have travelled on them and their service is improving all the time. Those who really oppose innovation are the Luddite Irish trade unions, because they used the roll out of new inter city trains for fomenting industrial disputes. I think that IR uses a lot of metric, but these distance signs are a mystery to me. Carpets etc. When I read Des Kelly ads in newspapers, they are never metric, Des Kelly seems to be militanty imperial. Han Maenen ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Wade" <[email protected]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, 2009, November 10 11:53 Subject: [USMA:46154] Re: Ireland > > >> When I was in Ireland this summer I saw one strange thing: Irish Rail is >> renewing the distance markers along the railways but they have not been >> changed to kilometres. So I saw a lot of new markers, all in miles! Totally contrary what has been done on the roads. Maybe Tom has an explanation for that. > I haven't, and since I don't use intercity trains, I would never have seen them. If you tell where you saw them and what they looked like, I will write to Irish Rail and ask them. > > I doubt if they are actively anti-metric, but they are a bit of a dinosaur > when it comes to innovation. > >> The shops that sell carpets, tiles etc. still oppose metric. I have to >> see the first shop of that kind in Ireland which uses metric units >> rationally. Some shops give the dimensions of carpets in metric and the >> price in euros per square yard! > > About five years ago nearly all such shops had units completely in > imperial. I remember watching on amusedly as a sales assistant calculated > the area of a corridor that was effectively 9 m x 1 m with a square 1 m x 1 m on the end using a calculator to multiply his feet-and-inches measurements, getting a result in square yards, and eventually arriving at the same price I had first predicted (the prices for sq yd and m2 were both displayed). When I pointed out how difficult he was making it for himself, he conceded he was, but that this was the way he had been trained to do it. > > Now there is much more of a mix of both metric and imperial, so it is > going in the right direction. > >> It is probably marketing nonsense that decrees that the square yard be >> used, as pricing by the square metre looks more expensive. > Of course this is the reason. Price per square yard seems cheaper. However, they are legally obliged to provide price per square meter (dual pricing is allowed, but not imperial only), and most of the ones I've seen comply. The ones that don't, I take the trouble to see the manager in charge, and point out that I won't do business with a shop that has illegal price signage. A complaint to the Consumer Agency also works wonders. > Tom Wade >
