Dragging the city under

Dublin and its environs were thrown into chaos today.

Beginning at around 7.15am, motorists across Leinster driving towards the capital began reporting a build-up of other vehicles travelling in front of them, slowing their progress.

A Garda spokesman said it appeared tens, if not hundreds of thousands of motorists from all over the region were trying to get to Dublin city centre at the same time. "There's nothing we can do," he said. "Motorists must realise that they venture out on the roads at their own risk."

As the hours dragged on, the situation deteriorated further. The closer to the city centre, the worse it became. Eventually, cars on many roads were forced to a crawl, spreading terror throughout the city and outlying areas. Many motorists found themselves trapped in stationary cars for minutes on end. Some distracted themselves from their predicaments by making phonecalls to AA Roadwatch, reading newspapers or trimming their fingernails.

The situation became so desperate that some people found themselves trapped in their homes. One desperate woman told The Irish Times from her house beside the train station in Maynooth that she had to phone the solicitor's office where she works in central Dublin and pretend to be sick. "I feel so guilty, but how else was I supposed to get there?" she said.

Radio stations carried updates every 15 minutes on the situation. Panicked voices declared that there were "tailbacks" of hundreds of yards on some approach roads to the capital.

Reports began to filter through of similar scenarios, albeit on a lesser scale, in other areas of the country, including Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, Ennis and Castlebar.

OarTÉ Radio interviewed an English disaster expert from the University of Walsdenfieldhamptonshire. "What you are experiencing is a accumulation of vehicles, otherwise known as traffic. As sure as night follows day, where you have large numbers of vehicles, you will get traffic. It's a common enough occurrence, I fail to see why you've got me up out of bed to talk about it," Prof Looder Amawn told Mourning Ireland before being cut off by the presenter, who was anxious to read out the urgent bulletin he'd just been handed.

"Please don't be alarmed, but I'm getting reports in that some motorists have actually abandoned their cars, leaving them in car parks," he said, barely able to conceal his horror at the thought.

The LUAS Park and Ride at the Red Cow roundabout reported unprecedented business. "There's people coming in here in tears," one employee said. "They can't believe they actually have to leave their cars and use public transport."

Many haggard commuters finally made it into work well over an hour after they'd set out from home. Their ordeal was not over, however.

The city centre remained clogged with vehicles throughout the day. Pockets of slow-moving vehicles were spotted in many outlying areas.

Phones rang constantly in the studios of radio chat shows throughout the day. "It's disgraceful. I blame the Government," one woman caller told OarTÉ's afternoon Cretin's Corner show. "There should be a law against it."

Sile Wagon, a villawife from Dalkey, said she was disgusted.

"Nobody told me when I was buying my Range Rover that I'd end up stuck behind some filthy peasant in a Toyota on my way to BTs. I mean, really, who do these people think they are? Can't they see I have a Range Rover?"

Many motorists were so traumatised by this morning's ordeals that they refused to drive home tonight. Their fear was compounded by a steady stream of radio reports of "traffic build-up" near the Blanchardstown exit of the M50 and other horrors. Dublin's hotels reported unprecedented business as motorists decided to stay in the capital and not risk the roads.

But others defiantly refused to be cowed by today's events. "It was just a freak occurrence. There's no way it can happen tomorrow," one woman told OarTÉ.