Ógra Shínn Féin participate in the 8th North South Forum

Orlagh Mc Cauley, Oisín Ó Dubhláin and Barry Mc Colgan represented Ógra Shínn Féin at the 8th North South Forum in Waterford on Saturday June 30th. The theme of which was ‘transport – the future journey’. Other parties who attended were Labour Youth, Ógra Fianna Fáil, Young Fine Gael, Young Progressive Democrats, Alliance Youth, Young Unionists, Young Greens (North), SDLP Youth and the Young Greens/Oige Ghlas.

Our discussion paper called for a public transport system that operates on an all Ireland basis. This system should be paid for through progressive taxation, be accessible to all citizens, affordable and environmentally friendly. Partition has created two separate systems both inefficient. In the South, the transport system has remained static and in some cases even worsened. Public transport has been greatly damaged by the neoliberal privatisation agenda. Major projects have been overpriced and taken too long to be completed. The system is abysmal outside major areas and is suffering due to the lack of rail network. Similarly in the North concentration has been placed on the urban centre of Belfast. We call for an overhaul of the ‘Regional Transport Strategy’ to include the neglected areas of Fermanagh, Tyrone and South Armagh.

We call for a dual carriageway from Dublin to Donegal serving Derry, the completion of a rerouted M3, more cycling lanes and bus corridors in urban areas, investment in road upgrading and the production of bio fuel and more park and ride facilities. We believe Dublin Bus should have an additional 500 buses, public transport should be more accessible to people with disabilities and light rail services such as the Luas should be created in other Irish cities. We call for the reopening and redevelopment of the rail network closed down in the 1950s and 1960s. A Western rail corridor should be created serving Shannon airport. We believe an efficient transport system would reduce the amount of unnecessary journeys and in turn avoid unnecessary road deaths. The discussion paper highlighted the need for Ógra Shínn Féin’s campaign on road safety.

Key speakers at the forum were Pat Mangan, assistant secretary of the Free Sate’s Department of Transport, Frank Mc Donald, the Irish Times environment editor and Frank Roche the senior engineer of Corporate Affairs and Transportation in Waterford City Council.

Although voting was tied for our motion calling for the amalgamation of the two public transport systems north and south into one unified system, the majority of the other parties supported most of the main points put forward in Ógra Shínn Féin’s discussion paper. The general feedback from the forum was that the majority of the parties want more pubic transport, particularly in rural areas, that privatisation is damaging to the transport system and the system needs to be decentralised.