Mayor's driver scorns gridlock

It's official: gridlock is for suburbanites. City dwellers including the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Senator Joe Doyle (FG), with an address in Dawson Street, do not suffer.

At least that is the what the Lord Mayor told The Irish Times as he accepted delivery of his £40,000 "Dublin Blue" top of the range Volvo S80 yesterday afternoon at the Mansion House.

The car, registered as 99 D 1, is the 12th Volvo to be supplied to Dublin's Lord Mayors and comes complete with integral mobile phone (it's built into the dashboard, you just install your own SIM card). It also comes with leather seats and a host of extras.

Unfortunately, not even for the Lord Mayor could the car be delivered on time. Berthing difficulties at Dublin Port meant that the car remained on a cargo ship in the port for two days, postponing yesterday morning's handover to the afternoon. Nobody, it seems, escapes gridlock at Dublin Port.

The registering of the car this week instead of last - vital to achieve that 99 D 1 plate - also had its problems. The date puts the car in line for the new higher rates of Vehicle Registration Tax outlined in the Budget by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy. Volvo personnel at yesterday's ceremony, who included managing director Mr Alan Cousins, reckoned that this would amount to between £4,000 and £4,500 extra.

But neither the Lord Mayor nor one of his two drivers, Mr Anthony Salmon, seemed overly concerned about the price - or the gridlock - yesterday. "Gridlock doesn't bother you if you know the city. If you know the short cuts you are OK," said Mr Salmon.

The Lord Mayor also discounted gridlock. "We get around the city quite easily, you know, I think the real problem is outside the city," he explained, leaving the clear impression that city-dwellers view gridlock as a suburban affliction.

However the mayor did add, after a pause, that he had "great faith in the quality bus corridors."

There was only one snag, as the mayor looked for his reading lamp. If it wasn't there it could be put in later, the Volvo people promised.

In Cork the Lord Mayor, Mr Joe O'Flynn (Labour), also received a new car yesterday. This time 99 C 1 is a top of the range Ford Scorpio - Ford having a long association with the State's second city.

The value of the car is estimated by Ford public relations people at £26,500 - but they point out that Ford provides the car to the city free of charge while the Volvo supplied in Dublin is actually leased to the city administration.