In September I wrote that the long-awaited plan to introduce penalty points for road-traffic offences looked set to be long-fingered once again after a five-year wait, writes Miriam Donohoe
Promised initially by Bobby Molloy in the 1997 Road Safety Strategy, the scheme was beset by new problems. There was a delay in installing the computer system needed to operate penalty points, and gardaí were complaining that they hadn't been trained to put it into force.
Enter Seamus Brennan, who was rewarded for his hard work as chief whip in the last minority FF-PD government by being given the transport portfolio after the May general election. Responsibility for road safety comes under the remit of that Department.
An enthusiastic Mr Brennan nearly broke all the speed limits himself in his enthusiasm to get on with the job of being Minister, and among his many, almost daily, promises was the introduction of penalty points by the end of October.
Undeterred by the reluctant gardaí, and the lack of an IT set-up, Mr Brennan stuck to his word, and on October 31st, against all the odds, penalty points were introduced on a manual basis dealing initially with speeding offences. Other offences are to be added to the system in the new year when the computer is up and running.
It is incredible that in the short two months since penalty points for speeding have been in place we have seen a 50 per cent drop in road deaths.
Last weekend was unique in Ireland. It was the first in almost four years without a road fatality. No family had to suffer the tragedy and heartbreak of having a loved one needlessly killed. More people will be sitting around the table with their families this Christmas as a result.
So far 361 people have been killed on Irish roads this year. If the downward trend continues to the end of 2002, we will have the lowest road death total since 1986 when 387 people died.
On the way back from a weekend in Clare on Sunday evening, I got first-hand experience of the fact that the nation's drivers are slowing down. The normally speeding drivers were gone, and there was something extremely civilised about the way the traffic moved at a sensible pace.
Cars even slowed down when it came to villages and towns with 30 and 40 m.p.h. speed limits.
Apart from the penalty points system, the graphic TV ads from the National Safety Council have helped to change attitudes in recent weeks.
Of course, we will be all hoping against hope that the pattern continues, and that as Seamus Brennan adds another 60 offences to the list covered by penalty points next year, the death toll on the roads will drop even further.
The initial success of the penalty points system has proved that in our Celtic Tiger economy, few motorists are put out by the idea of having to cough up a few bob for a speeding fine. But the prospect of losing your driving licence is a different thing entirely.
One of our last deeds before we left China was to pay a 20-dollar fine after our car was clamped outside a department store.
Our good Chinese friend, Xiao Lu, told us at the time that he would never risk parking illegally, or speeding, because it would cost at least two points on his licence. If he lost his licence, he would lose his livelihood as a driver and would have to spend six months studying the rules of the road and doing a theory test before he was allowed back driving again.
So it is nice to know that so-called "modern" Ireland is finally catching up with developing China.
CRITICISM is heaped often enough by commentators on politicians who don't deliver on their promises, and rightly so. But in the case of our Minister for Transport, congratulations are in order.
I don't know if his colleagues around the Cabinet table are patting him on the back for his initiative, but the lesson for all politicians would appear to be this: be your own person and don't let reluctant lobby groups and civil servants and public servants stand in the way of a major decision if you believe it makes a lot of sense and is for the common good.
Your reward will be that long after you have left office and hung up your political boots, you will be remembered for doing something that had clear benefits for society.
If the penalty points system had been introduced when first promised in 1997, dozens of lives would have been saved and many Irish families would not be mourning the loss of loved ones during the coming holiday.
As for Seamus Brennan, it's been a tough few weeks, with his political career under threat over allegations that he left an unpaid bill of €5,000 worth of cigars and spirits from Aer Rianta in 1992. Thankfully for him he has been cleared of any suggestion of impropriety.
No one would now begrudge the Minister a brandy and cigar this Christmas for his efforts at cutting down on road deaths in Ireland. As long as he doesn't drive afterwards, of course.