Hi Mr. GM,
I'm not sure if you've heard about our little site potholes.ie which is trying to highlight the issue of... you guessed, potholes across the nation. We've tried to involve as many CO. Co. as possible to have a balanced view on the topic and allow them some floorspace to illustrate the massive efforts being put in by all of their hard working employees (cue the sarcasm if you haven't noticed!). In fairness, DCC have been the most accommodating Co.Co. so far, giving us little tips on how the information we provide could be better laid out etc. etc. However, the best response was from the nice people of Drogheda Borough County Council, who told us;
"This Website has no official status and we will not be contributing. You need not send on any further correspondence." The first thing that jumps out is that no-one has had the balls to put their name to the email and secondly, who says I can't send an email to a public body email address?? We pay for the bloody email address, so I'll email it if I want to!!! Sorry, rant over.
Anyway, I would appreciate it if anyone would like to logon to our site and report a few potholes. Those of you from Drogheda are even more welcomed!
Thanks, Graham
The Potholes.ie Team
It should be borne in mind that a recent AA survey of 7,000 motorists (Sindo 9th May) revealed that 22% of drivers had hit a pothole which caused enough damage to justify calling out the AA or visiting a garage. 24 per cent of affected motorists reported the damage to their local authority, but in only 17% of cases were repairs carried out.
If you know of any tank traps out your way, at least if you report them to the site above, it will be on record... even if the councils do nothing and someone ends up getting killed.
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9 comments:
aaah yesGM the land of cead miile pot holes and ripoffs is now going to grant members of the diaspora very special id cards 70 000000 of us in total,the dept of fairies leprachauns and paddywhackery will soon bombard us with invitations to jiggin and reeling 24-7 and drink porter with warrior poets in ancient ale houses great crack alltogether but only if you have a gold card will you be considered ,all the empty GOBEEN HOTELS have nothing to do with this oh no
its the warmt of the oirish for their kinfolk far away.
want to buy a bridge GM the golden gate is for sale iam listing agent
forgot to sign BH
Sounds like another world-beating scheme, BH.
I'll have to think about that Golden Gate one, BH. You see, there's a bit of an, ahem, cashflow problem these days. How I yearn for the far-off days of the Tiger.
How did it all go wrong?
Hi GM,
Thanks for posting this piece. You made a very good point that regardless of whether the councils do anything about the reported potholes, the biggest excuse they use to get out of paying compensation for damage caused to cars is "We didn't know about that pothole. It was never reported". At least with our site, the information is in the public domain, all County Councils have been informed that we are building a database of potholes and we have made it as simple as possible for them to download the data. The more potholes reported on our site, the less likely Councils can worm out of paying compensation for damaged cars. If the compensation bills mount up, they might see fixing the roads as a cheaper option!!!
Thanks,
Graham
The Potholes.ie Team
Good one!
Dakota
Excellent site, very professional…what the country needs ..there is strength in no’s: 1 pot hole on a website won’t make a council look bad- 1000’s all over Ireland will.
A great inspiration to beleaguered motorists- so much of this countries problems continue because frustrated people feel they are operating alone. A well needed site|:
Let’s say you’ve paid all your bin charges, the council assures you your a/c is clear, all up to date. But one day, near your house you notice a huge stinking mountain of rubbish with thousands of vermin streaming out . The Council kindly explain “ Ah well your waste charges money WASN’T ring fenced …so it can be allocated for other purposes ( and not the one you actually Paid for- and Somehow the other ‘purposes’ are never named .The road situation is no different from the ( currently!) hypothetical example above.; Now I AM getting angry: What other country will Oblige you to pay money for a Named purpose-then say that money Can GO ANYWHERE? WHY? Because Ireland is a’ poor ‘country? We’ve been hearing that 90 yrs. OK, so money is stolen from the roads fund- so it must go to hospitals, schools - or what? We are never told what alternate Worthy public cause the money goes to..so we Should be entitled to Stop paying road tax Unless we are told the money won’t be siphoned off elsewhere….until then we are simply being Embezzled by Knackers….
30 yrs ago knackers tarmacked a small area for my aunt and daffodils and large weeds grew through it a few weeks later.
This Government has the same ‘take the money and run before the daffodils show’ approach to the roads- *Knackers all of them.
* I apologise for insulting decent elements of our knacker class- government here just leaves me lost for words.
**Cead, mille Potholes.. I like that
Yes good site. Looks like the councils have no excuse now! They might have to do there job now.
*Ouh shivers all over....*
Dakota
Good post Gombeen Man!
I am usually a cyclist and some of the roads, even in leafy South Dublin are so bad that I need to stop and walk in certain places, for fear of crashing into the better-known potholes and subsequently getting creamed by whatever vehicle is coming up behind me.
I know that the reintroduction of Council Rates and/or Water Rates have been mooted recently. I wouldn't mind paying reasonable rates to the councils if they sorted out issues like these.
Unfortunately, I fear that 60% of the country are either simply unable to afford paying rates or else would come out with the usual "It's a double taxation, I'm not paying" rebellious spiel.
Of course, were rates brought in, there would then be a 5 year backlog in enforcing payment and, by then the rates will be abolished anyway, as soon as the latest government of the time comes in.
It's a lose-lose situation, especially with the appalling state of the public services in the councils.
Doesnt matter how much money you throw at things like bad roads the problem is joined up thinking. There isnt any here. Nobody seems to either give a toss or is able or willing to take responsibility for anything.
Also when rates were a fact of life some years ago the roads and services perse were as bad and some would say, worse. As for a water charge, eh 50% is been lost as it is, the problem is not water usage its water loss. If a charge was introduced it would only be there to pay for incompetence in the past.
Dakota
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