Over-strict drink driving laws are damaging pubs in rural Longford, council hears

Minister for Transport Shane Ross is being let “ruin rural Ireland” with his dramatic drink driving laws, according to a number of local representatives at the January meeting of Longford County Council.

While drink driving is certainly an issue that needs to be taken in hand, councillors expressed their concerns for the decent, sensible drinkers who are doing everything right but getting caught out the next morning at Garda checkpoints.

Cllr Martin Mulleady (FF) raised the issue that Minister Ross had not responded to a letter from Longford County Council regarding dramatic changes in laws, saying that the minister's lack of response was “disregarding this council”.

“This is going to be a serious issue if this man is let ruin rural Ireland like what he’s doing. We don’t have a luas. We don’t have access to taxis in the country. And we don’t have bus services in the country that’s going to bring people into the town and home,” Cllr Mulleady fumed.

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“This minister is getting away with an awful lot and it’s about time he starts to cut back on what he’s doing or we’ll have nobody left in the midlands. It’s just absolutely scandalous what he’s getting away with.”

Cllr Micheál Carrigy (FG) was quick to point out that the council was not just “sitting back and taking it”, but being proactive with the establishment of the hugely successful local link, which runs between Granard and Longford town.

In fact, he said, it is hoped that this service could be extended to other parts of the county in due course.

“There’s an evaluation going on on all those routes at the minute and what we’d be putting forward is that there would be an expansion on that service throughout the county and that we would look at subsidising hackneys throughout the county or put in subsidies for the pub industry,” he said.

“So we’re not sitting back and taking it. We’re actually working on proposals for rural Ireland and there was significant investment put into that scheme.”

Cllr Gerard Farrell (FG) agreed that the local link was an excellent idea but expressed his concern that the service would take customers from businesses in smaller towns like Lanesboro, Kenagh or Ballymahon.

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“Places like Lanesboro and Ballymahon are trying to grow all the time and there’s some great work going on there. But if you have a bus taking customers out of the town and bringing them back at 11 o’clock at night... it wouldn’t be high on my agenda anyway,” he said.

Cllr Farrell was in favour, though, of the idea to subsidise taxis in the areas as this would create employment and encourage people to set up hackney businesses.

“I know the Local Link is pretty successful in north Longford, but for towns like Lanesboro that are trying to develop tourism initiatives and so on, or a place like Ballymahon that’s flying at a great pace, a bus leaving there with people on it and coming back at 11 o’clock is not a good idea in my book,” he concluded.

Following a deep discussion on drink driving laws in rural Ireland, it was agreed that the council would write to Minister Ross again to follow up on the original correspondence.

Other concerns of council members, however, were with regard to the attitude of Gardaí at checkpoints.

“People feel very intimidated and afraid that they’re going to be stopped and in trouble,” said Cllr John Browne (FG).

“I totally agree,” said Cllr Farrell in response.“It’s particularly terrorising people who drink sensibly. People who drink at home are drinking huge glasses of wine, huge measures of this, that and the other.

“At least if they drink in a pub, they’ll drink sensibly and the people that drink sensibly and have five or six drinks and are basically more or less sober going home shouldn’t be terrorised the next morning. These are the decent people that are working and that are keeping this country going.”

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Cllr Mulleady pointed out that the attitude of the Gardaí when they breathalyse drivers leaves a lot to be desired.

“The Gardaí don’t make it easy for the person that’s going to be bagged,” he said.

“The first thing they do is they put pressure on you straight away. The first thing the guard said to me was that if I didn’t have my drivers licence on me, that I had points straight away on my licence. I don’t understand that.

“To be honest with you, the pressure that he put on me straight away made me nervous even though I knew that I had no drink on me from the night before. But the guards need to take a proactive look at what they’re doing here.”

After much debate, it was suggested that the whole issue be discussed in detail at the next JPC meeting, which is due to be held in early March.