David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to join with colleagues in expressing my sadness at the passing of Mr. John Carroll, a former member of this House, valiant trade unionist and a considerable musician. He was a very fine trumpeter and I well remember in the 1970s that he, along with others like Johnny Logan, very courageously took part in a concert I organised in the Olympia Theatre to raise funds for the legal action I was taking at that point. It was very courageous of him to do so. We managed to succeed in only losing £4 because we had conflicted with a walk led by the ghastly Jimmy Saville.

In those days, I took part in quite a number of protest marches including several organised by the Dublin Housing Action Committee as well as the PAYE marches.We always had a brass band and it was often led by John Carroll. It was the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union brass band. He is a loss to this community.

I support the call of my colleagues for the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, to come to the House to discuss the MetroLink project. I have heard an awful lot of drivel spoken. Only today, I heard two people. Senator McDowell was talking about it. He is concerned and worried, etc. The Senator stated that for the cost of the MetroLink, one could put in ten Luas lines. What a vision. Given that two Luas lines have created havoc and traffic chaos, another ten would be wonderful. I do not know where these people are dragged up from.

Then we had that person, Mr. Colm McCarthy, who is actually an interesting economist. He talked about buses, stating that for the cost of the MetroLink one could flood Dublin with buses. I do not know where Mr. McCarthy lives. He must live under a stone somewhere in Sandycove because if one looks at Nassau Street, it is buses end to end already the entire length of the street. One can hardly squeeze a bicycle between them. I do not know what on earth these two people are talking about - one of them trying to flood the city with Luas lines which cannot possibly work and the other trying to flood them with buses.

The real disaster is we should have built a full underground system in the beginning. The Luas is a catastrophic mistake and we will be paying for it for years. I say that despite the fact it is highly convenient for me. I can get onto it in Parnell Street, whizz down to Dawson Street and trickle across here. On the way home, if I get one marked "Parnell", I can get on in Dawson Street and whizz back up to the northside to within 100 yards of my house. It is convenient for me but it is a disaster for the city.