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EARLIER THIS WEEK, the National Transport Authority (NTA) announced redesigns to the landmark BusConnects plan.
The plan will see the current routes throughout Dublin Bus abolished and replaced with spines and orbital routes. They’ll replace the existing routes completely, with the 46a, 40 and other routes set to become a thing of the past.
Around 50,000 submissions were made following a public consultation on the initial new routes proposed with people in some localities complaining that they would be left without a direct route to travel to the city. This consultation ran from late last year into 2019.
Almost a third of people were worried about the Bus Connects plan not providing them with sufficient access to schools, colleges and hospitals.
The NTA said it is confident it has addressed the concerns of “all but a small minority” of those who responded.
The network is being redesigned in an attempt to make bus routes simpler for tourists to understand and more efficient so that buses come more frequently.
However, due to the frequency of some services compared to others, people may have to change buses on the way into the city centre.
The most frequent services will be along the “spines”. The theory according to those behind the plan is that although you may have to change your bus on the way into town, by prioritising the key spines to run every five to 10 minutes, it should actually get you into town faster.
Along with that, there will be orbital routes that stay outside the city centre that cross over the various spines.
For example, someone travelling from Cabra to Clontarf could take the N2 bus without having to go through the city under the plans. Or if they wanted to go to Howth from Cabra, they could get the N2, avoid town and hop on one of the spine services that travels to Howth when it gets to Clontarf.
The original plan had seven spines. The revised plan has eight.
It’s not quite set in stone yet, but here’s how the revised BusConnects plan would change your bus route if it was implemented under the current proposals.
The A spine
With the spines, there’s a core route linking an area to the city. Once it gets a certain distance to the city, each of the bus services that make up that spine will follow the same route through the centre.
In the example of A below, from Terenure in the south and Drumcondra on the north side, each of the A buses go the same route.
In places, the spine branch off in separate directions the further it gets out from the city. In the case of the A spine, there’ll be four strands that link up together – A1, A2, A3, A4.
While each of these start in different places, you could – in the case of A – get anyone of these buses at Drumcondra Dart Station if you were heading into the city centre.
In the case of the A, they’ll be every few minutes at peak times. Currently, the 16 bus runs every ten minutes during rush hour.
The service travels from Dublin Airport, through Santry, Drumcondra and the city centre, before going to Harold’s Cross, Terenure and ending up in Ballinteer.
The 16 is joined by a number of other buses along the route, but that would be replaced by the A spine.
So let’s break them down (and to note – the exact route can be broken down by clicking into each map).
A1, A3
The terminus on the north of the city for the A1 is at Beaumont hospital. The A1 and A3both join the rest of the A spine at Collins Avenue.
It travels down Drumcondra Road into the city centre.
Crossing onto the south side, it turns off Dame Street onto George’s Street. It goes past the canal into Rathmines, into Rathgar and then Terenure.
The A1 then splits off, goes through Templeogue and Knocklyon before terminating at Old Ballycullen.
The A3, meanwhile, also splits off and goes through Cherryfield before terminating in Tallaght.
A2, A4
The A2 and A4 travel out a bit further north than the first two.
The A4 goes as far as Swords, while the A2 terminates at Dublin Airport.
You can also see on the map below a number of smaller, less frequent orbital routes that link these to other areas separate from the city.
For example, the 196 which begins near Holywell links Swords to Charlestown in Finglas.
The terminus for A2 and A4 in the south side is at Dundrum and Nutgrove respectively.
The B spine
Currently the 39a goes from Blanchardstown all the way to UCD, with a number of other buses on that route.
The new B spine will go to UCD but also shake up how the various nearby areas access town.
As with the A spine, there’ll be a B1, B2, B3 and B4 route. From Blanchardstown shopping centre towards town, each service be going in the same direction.
However, existing buses like the 70 which links the city centre to Dunboyne will be no more.
Instead, people travelling from there would get a 264 to Blanchardstown Shopping Centre and then switch to one of the B spine buses.
It’s when it gets to town that the B diverges from the current routes of the 39 et al.
Buses on the B spine will go around Merrion Square and into Ballsbridge. At St Vincent’s Hospital, B1 and B2 will turn onto Nutley Lane and then terminate at UCD.
The B3 and B4 carry on into Booterstown and Blackrock. Where the B3 terminates in Dun Laoghaire, the B4 carries on into Sallynoggin and terminates near Killiney.
Also of note here, less frequent buses such as the 221 and the 211 will link Dun Laoghaire with Dalkey and Bray.
The C spine
Now, there’s a number of buses that go through Lucan, including the 25a, 25b, 66 and 67. That would be replaced by the C spine.
The different strands of the C spine – again C1, C2, C3 and C4 would meet on the M4 to the east of Lucan village and carry on into town.
When travelling away from the city centre, buses on the C spine will travel through Palmerstown and pass Liffey Valley.
The C1 will turn just before the village as will C2. They both take different routes before terminating at the Adamstown train station.
The C3 and 4 will go through Lucan village before diverging. The C4 will travel onto Celbridge while the C3 goes to Maynooth.
And then, instead of terminating in the city centre like the 66, 67 and 25 buses currently do, the C spine will carry on as far as Ringsend.
Here, C3 and C4 terminate while the C1 and C2 buses carry on to Sandymount.
The D spine
Now it gets complicated.
One of the biggest changes to the BusConnects plan in this iteration compared to the previous one is the north-east of Dublin, which is covered by the D spine (and now also the H spine – more on this later).
The 15 and 27 routes are two busy routes that travel from the north of the city past Clontarf, and through Donnycarney, Artane and Coolock.
The D spine will replace this. But there will be five routes within the D spine – D1, D2, D3, D4 and D5.
Here’s where the terminus is for each one on the north side:
As you can see, the different routes along the sign branch off to serve the different nearby suburbs before joining at the Malahide Road, travelling through Donnycarney and heading into the city.
Once buses on the D spine reache town, they’ll then serve south-west Dublin. Buses will go down Cork Street, cross the canal into Crumlin and then diverge after Our Lady’s Hospital.
The D1 and D3 travel into Clondalkin, with D1 going further and terminating in Lucan and D3 terminating after Clondalkin village.
D2, D4 and D5 head further south towards Tallaght. D2 terminates in Kingswood, D4 in Aylesbury and D5 at the Square.
The E spine
The E spine is a lot more straightforward.
It encompasses two routes – E1 and E2 – serving Ballymun and Charlestown in north Dublin and Dun Laoghaire and Bray in the south.
The E1 will terminate in Ballymun while the E2 will go onto Charlestown.
The E will travel from the Ballymun Road, by Glasnevin into Phibsborough and through the city centre.
Once it gets through town the E will follow routes similar to the 46a and the 145 buses that currently run.
E1 will go out to Bray while the E2 will go to Dun Laoghaire.
The F spine
The F spine will serve Finglas on Dublin’s northside with F1, F2 and F3 taking different routes in that area with all three then terminating in Charlestown.
The spine will travel into the city centre via Phibsborough and Dorset Street.
The service leaves town through Clanbrassil Street into Harold’s Cross and Kimmage before breaking off in three directions.
F1 goes through Cherryfield and Firhouse before reaching an eventual destination of the Square Tallaght.
F2 goes through Perrystown before terminating at Cherryfield and F3 terminates at Tymon Park.
The G spine
This spine consists of G1 and G2 and primarily serves areas of Ballyfermot, Clondalkin and Inchicore.
The two spines meet in Ballyfermot. G1 also serves Park West and Cherry Orchard before terminating at the Red Cow Luas, while G2 travels through Clondalkin and terminates at Liffey Valley.
Into the city, the bus travels by Kilmainham, St James’s Hospital before terminating at Spencer Dock.
The H spine
The H spine is a new inclusion in the revised BusConnects plan. This would connect the city centre with frequent services to Malahide, Howth and Clongriffin.
Made up of H1, H2 and H3, they travel the same oute until splitting at St Anne Park outside Raheny.
The H1 travels through Raheny, Edenmore and Donaghmede before terminating at Clongriffin.
The H2 and H3 hug the coast along Kilbarrack before diverging.
The H2 travels all the way to Malahide while the H3 terminates at Howth summit.
The consultation on all these proposals will run until Tuesday 3 December 2019.
Cue the “that would never happen here, he’d get a promotion” mob…
@dangermouse: Well they are similar, though not the same. This appears to be a child molester whereas the guy Norris was defending it was consensual sex with someone just below the age of consent.
@Ryan Carroll: What about Gerry Adams?
@Ryan Carroll: It can’t be consensual sex ‘just below the age of consent’. Isn’t that the point?
@Ryan Carroll: So you’re saying that sex with a child who’s “just below” the age of consent is OK then? How far under the age of consent is a good cut off point? Do you always choose to obey your own interpretation of the law?
@Ryan Carroll: So, you’re saying it’s not rape if it’s only a little bit underage? Or is it only a little bit of rape..? Or does it get bigger for each year below the age of consent. You confuse me.
You do understand the notion of *consent* I hope? It’s either there or it’s not.
@Ryan Carroll: so that makes it rape.
@Malachi: Yes, it’s still a crime because you are not mature enough to consent.
But since there is a moral difference between sleeping with a 15/16 year old who is legally unable to consent but they do it willingly and it’s legal in many countries, and all out raping a 12 year old child. The law recognizes that moral difference and gives a 100 times harsher punishment for the latter, giving a possible life term because the latter also means the persons a pedophile which we know is not something you can “cure”, and that 66% re-offend. So there is a moral and legal difference between the two all be it that they are both illegal so it’s not really a like with like comparison of that guy to this guy. This guy is far worse.
@Dr Richard DeWitt: I personally don’t think someone who did not recognize the existence of the Irish state, is a closet Marxist who used to envy the soviet union, cuba and north korea, should be Tainiste but that’s up to the voters.
As for him defending murder and demanding cop killers even the provos had disowned be released from prison. that disqualified him from the job IMO but apparently he has constituents who disagree, and a lot of people born in the 90s from my generation who don’t remember the troubles don’t realize what he is.
@Dr Richard DeWitt: No Dr, I didn’t say that, don’t put words in my mouth I’m quite capable of speaking for myself.
@Ryan Carroll: if your explaining your losing..in this case your losing big .. your an apologist for kiddie fiddlers.
Correction just checked it’s up to 15 years for 15-17, 15 if you are in a position of power (teacher, coach etc) and life for anyone under 15.
@MaryLoonyMcDonald: No Mary I’m explaining the law as it stands…I didn’t apologize for anyone:
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2006/act/15/enacted/en/html
Read It.
The law is split into two separate sections for two separate scenarios, and the reason is that one crime is worse than the other. Simple facts.
@Ryan Carroll: Fair, but it’s not ‘sleeping with a 15/16 year old’ and ‘raping a 12 year old child’.
Both are rape, no legal consent is given in either case. A moral distinction? Sure – but you’ve created a semantic distinction there that doesn’t exist.
@Dr Richard DeWitt: Norris’s position was fairly clear, and I reckon he still supports it. He wants to be able to champion pedastry between the ages of 12 and 17 as part of education, similar to the practice carried out in upper class boarding schools. His support for Nawi only enhanced the view that this was not just an academic discussion, but one he supported in practice.
@Ryan Carroll: haha how can you have consensual sex with someone who is below the age of consent?? Bizarre contradiction.
@Malachi: ah the auld moral relativism rears its ugly head in debate.
@Malachi: Incidentally when that 2006 law was going through there was a giant loophole in it nobody noticed and who pointed it out? Norris.
There was a defense of “honest mistake” put in but there was no requirement in the defense clause for it to be formed on a reasonable grounds. So for example, if a person is in a nightclub and it’s reasonable to assume people were 18 because Ids were cheked at the door a jury can consider that, but if they just claim, with no basis, that they looked older or something that could be disregarded. He spotted that and it was added in.
Yes both are rape. It’s not a semantic distinction at all, there is a big difference between sleeping with a 16 year old who used a fake passport to get into a night club and raping a child, that is so obvious to anyone with any common sense. You might let the first one walk if you were on a jury, depending on the circumstances, but you’d throw the book at the latter and never want them to see the outside of a cell again. If it was a semantic distinction the law would not be split in two for two scenarios, it would have the same penalty for anything with anyone under 17.
@Johnny Gunn: Actual consent, not legal consent, there is a difference between the two.
@Martin Flood: the thing is.. Its his father, not him. He didn’t ask for the pardon..
@Dell: They’re talking about Norris and someones father here Dell, Adams asked for (and got) a commuted sentence for two cop killers who the GFA didn’t apply to, and the provos had disowned, and another SF TD was all smiles and hugs with them as they got out of prison. Adams got re-elected, so did Ferris, for getting cop killers out of jail.
@Ryan Carroll: but normal people would not tolerate Adams in a position of power (apart from up in the basket case statelet, where they are forced to). Benedictsson was forced out by the other party, not his own, for not condemning his father. In SF, it’s actually a virtue to have something abhorrent in your cupboard, and will never be thrown out internally. If Adams was in a normal coalition party and anyone of the transgressions he supported over the years came out, it would be brought down immediately.
@Martin Flood: it took months to get rid of a corrupt garda commissioner….you can see where the apathy and mistrust in this country comes from…
@Malachi: Ah cop on. Lots of teenagers under the age of consent have consensual sex.
I can’t see how the PM is responsible for the sins of his father.
You can’t choose family. If a family member of mine robbed a bank should I lose my job?
@Theunpopularpopulist: no…but if he raped someone you’d be on shaky ground considering the current goings on.
@Theunpopularpopulist: he’s not responsible for the sins of his father, the point is he knew for over 2 months his father was giving character references to a convicted child rapist and kept it from his party and both coalition partners
@liam: no he shouldn’t have to. He has absolutely no control over what his father does and doesn’t condone his actions/views.
By your logic if anyone in your family has a criminal conviction you would have to notify your employer or else lose your job or both.
@Theunpopularpopulist: exactly. It makes no sense that the PM is being held responsible and I don’t blame him for not wanting to share details like that which he had no control over.
@Theunpopularpopulist: That is not what caused it. I understand that there is a lot of context to the situation and this article doesn’t touch on it properly, so I’ll try to explain it a bit.
Basically, the problem lies in that the identity of the man who made the letter had been kept a secret by the ministry of justice for a while without any legal reason. That is to say, they kept it confidential even when there is no law saying they are supposed to. The ministry of justice kept this up until an oversight went over the whole thing and concluded that, yes, they were going way beyond the law to keep the information from the public, at this point they caved and revealed it to be Bjarni’s father.
Now, it being his father wasn’t too much of a problem, though the connection does hurt him a bit, but then the minister of justice revealed that she had in fact told Bjarni the information all the way back in July. That along with the facts that it was Benedik his father AND that the minister of justice is also in the Independance Party paints thia whole thing as an atempt to make Bjarni look less bad by keeping the information from public eye
Added to this is the fact that the Bright Future didn’t really have the best relations with the Independence Party to begin with. But was the only party that managed to form a coalation with them during the months after the snap election of trying to form a government, as the Independence party wouldn’t partner with the Progressive party after the scandal and it and the Restoration party (accidentally misnamed as tge Independence party in the article, though it is basically an offshot of the IP). After they partnered with them they have really gotten the worst of the trade and have been kinda left out of the whole thing, not really helping withbthe trust. Now they find out that Bjarni and a part of the government (of which they are apart of) had hid from them this information and it became the straw that broke the camels back (in their own words), and they therefore quit the coalition based on what they called a serious breach of trust.
Now Bjarni isn’t really in any legal trouble for hidding his fathers involvement (though this added to his involvement in the Panama scandal cannot be good for his public image) and there isn’t anything blaming him in a way that he has to pay for, being still the head of his party and a member of parliament (so he isn’t really “responsible for the sins of his father”). But with BF having left the coalition the government no longer has its majority (of one seat) and is now in minority. This makes it automatically defunct and it is therefore collapsed.
Now we are here, seeing what happens next with this situation we have on our hands.
@Þórir Pétur Pétursson: Thanks for the explanation. Good luck.
Wow total censorship, multiple fact based comments removed!
@Johnny Gunn: Have you been consulting with your experts again? “Experts agree” does not count as fact based… :/
@Patrick Kearns: why is the journal protecting pedophiles sympathisers??
@Johnny Gunn: more comments deleted!! The struggle is real bro. How do you overcome such hardship?
Thankfully Sinn Fein are made of sterner stuff.
This is what Brass Eye was trying to warm us about in the 90′s. They’ll be firing pediatricians and oenophiles next…
Iceland was a land of ice for bondholders unlike our gombeen bullied nation. Anglo Irish cost us 32 billion into a black hole but let’s all condemn the homeless over needing a pittance.
Damn PC nazi snowflakes silencing more opinions they don’t like!
@DaisyChainsaw: his father made the opinion not him.
If your family member does something wrong. Should you lose your job?
@DaisyChainsaw: Don’t try to make that comparison. There is a big difference between advocating political action be taken, to give a rapist with a condition we know cannot be cured a pardon, and giving an opinion on a rape case.
One is about action being taken the other is just talking. Besides this does not make sense either, if it had been the PM or a politician calling for a pardon for someone (unless they thought they werre really innocent or something) who had raped a child anyone would call for their job, but their father? Tha’ts just stupid.
@Theunpopularpopulist: I’m not a believer but I remember this from religion class “The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ Sad but I think it happens that you might not lose your job but your career might go belly up for some “ unknown” reason. Life is not actually fair at all.
@DaisyChainsaw: But surely the kids parents are in someway to blame for putting them in danger in the first place. That’s the argument. (I doubt even this lot would blame the kid although they’re so twisted they actually might).
@Ryan Carroll: it’s not a condition that can’t be cured..its just criminal. Your an apologist for these criminal child abusers.
Re: Eugene Green:
This is part of a piece from the ‘Voice of the Faithful’ web site. There is another article from a Donegal News Paper which I can’t find.
‘There was uproar from victims when it emerged that former parishioners had collected €50,000 for Greene. Voices of the Faithful, a support group, said the scale of donations to Greene indicated a “most serious state of denial of the most horrific crimes in Donegal”.
@Andi Black: All faiths and ideologies are at it, the migrant support group self righteous ass group working in France told one of their staff not to report a rape as it would show the migrants in a bad light.
I.e. bring their ideology into disrepute.
This is after scandal in catholic church, after the scandal in Rotheram.
It’s not like the migrant group can say “well we didn’t know.what we were doing”
It’s all a bit catholic church, really! Context: https://twitter.com/AndriErlingsson/status/908491738888724480
@Martin Flood: well, they would be right in saying he would get a promotion here in this country, wouldn’t they?
what’s the point of your comment?
What a strange place Iceland is, restore honour, Bizzare stuff
It is not what you know but whom?
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