Irish Examiner view: Is the NTA's €1.7m PR plan a good use of its funds?
Under The Period, 268 Influence Coughlan Driving Or Picture: Of Christmas Speeding Over Arrested Caught Alcohol Were And The Drugs Drivers 3,750 Were Jim For
The holiday season has not given us any respite when it comes to deaths on the roads. Nine people died in a nine-day stretch over the Christmas period that saw 18 serious accidents, with a further 20 people receiving serious and life-threatening injuries.
With that in mind, it is encouraging to read that the gardaí mean to introduce more unmarked vehicles to catch dangerous drivers on Irish roads, with accompanying plans for up to 100 more static speed cameras.
Those safeguards are sorely needed. The most recent figures show a 4% drop in fatalities for 2024 compared to the previous year — from 181 deaths in 2023 to 174 last year, according to the Road Safety Authority.
The raw numbers are still deeply worrying, however. Over the Christmas period, 3,750 drivers were caught speeding and 268 were arrested for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Any measures which will help reduce the carnage on the roads — and which might deter selfish drivers who insist on driving while under the influence — are welcome.
It is more difficult to see the benefits of another plan, this one mooted by the National Transport Authority (NTA).
As reported in the , the NTA is set to spend up to €1.7m on videography services to promote key infrastructure around the country such as BusConnects.
In an invitation to tender, the NTA said it is seeking a contractor to provide “high-quality photography and media/video production services” to highlight the work it is doing.
The NTA is, of course, entitled to publicise its activities. This is particularly true when those have a clear impact on the public, as in the case of BusConnects.
However, we also need drastic action to halt the deaths on our roads, and looking at the NTA’s videography plans, there is an obvious question — is this the best use of funds for the benefit and safety of all who use our transport systems?
Secondary school students do not re-enter the classrooms for a few days yet, but when they slip into desks in schools all over the country, what kind of teachers will they be facing?
A study circulating in the Department of Education on the issue of staff shortage at post-primary level has revealed some startling facts about the qualifications of some of those who are teaching in our secondary schools.
The study suggests that in the last academic year, there were approximately 1,200 teaching posts at second level which were either not filled or were taken up by teachers who were not qualified to teach the subject they were assigned to teach.
It is a worrying revelation that hundreds of teachers are in this situation, but their students are the ones who are suffering as a consequence.
The first issue is the experience of those students in the education system — they are being let down by that system if their teachers are not fully qualified. They are not being prepared properly for either work or further education if this is the case.
There is also the threat of ongoing weakness in particular subjects. The department study suggests it is difficult to get teachers for certain subjects, which raises the possibility that standards in those subjects are falling, and may continue to fall on an ongoing basis.
Furthermore, one of the major attractions to overseas firms seeking to set up shop here is a well-educated, highly qualified workforce.
However, if we cannot be sure that teachers at second level are even qualified to teach specific subjects, that undermines our hard-won reputation for educational excellence.
Providing properly qualified teachers should be non-negotiable for a modern democracy.
In Britain, those enjoying the recent festive season faced a particular challenge as Christmas approached.
A shortage of Guinness afflicted certain parts of Britain, forcing some pubs into rationing measures. Supermarkets fared no better, with some facing a real risk of running out of Guinness, and makers Diageo eventually had sent for more supplies from Ireland to cover the shortfall.
The rise in popularity of Guinness may be partly responsible. Readers will be familiar with the social media phenomenon of “splitting the G” when drinking Guinness, which surely accounts in part for the increase in consumption which led to the shortage.
However, in the last couple of days, we learned of another contributing factor. This week, the reported a heist which appeared to make the situation even worse, as a truck carrying 400 50-litre kegs of Guinness — the equivalent of approximately 35,200 pints — disappeared from a logistics hub near Daventry in Northamptonshire in mid-December.
It is not the first time Guinness has suffered such a setback. In November 2007, a lorry driven into the St James’ Gate brewery in Dublin left with an equally impressive and equally unsanctioned load: A container carrying 180 kegs of Guinness, 180 kegs of Budweiser, and 90 kegs of Carlsberg — the equivalent of approximately 40,000 pints.
At the time of writing, the whereabouts of the Daventry load remain unknown, though investigations are ongoing. Fans of stout in Britain may have to console themselves with alternatives such as Murphy’s and Beamish, until Guinness improves its supply lines or recovers the stolen kegs.
Of course, advocates of the former drinks, both brewed in Cork, may not see that as a lowering of standards.