Sir, - The Ballymun Transport Action Group has been formed in response to the postponement of the Ballymun/Airport section of the proposed LUAS light rapid transit system for Dublin. This omission is a serious blow to the people of the northside of Dublin. It also draws into question the credibility of the Government, and in particular the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Mr Lowry, who announced the LUAS system in advance of agreement with the European Union, and long fingered the Ballymun/Airport link in spite of the reservations of the European Union's Regional Affairs Commissioner, Monika Wulf Mathies.
Our group believes that the people of the northside have every justification to be angry at their exclusion from this system, particularly given the high dependence on public transport among people in the Ballymun area, which suffers from three times the national level of unemployment. We now intend to channel that anger into an organised campaign to bring forward the Ballymun link to phase one. We also intend to highlight the failure of our four local TDs in Dublin North West, three of whom are in Government, to use their political muscle to bring this important transport service to Ballymun and Dublin Airport, which is a huge source of employment and commuters.
The Ballymun Transport Action Group has been in contact with the EU Regional Affairs Commissioner, outlining the case for Ballymun and we expect the Commissioner to uphold our objection to the exclusion of this vital link. - Yours, etc.,
Chairperson,
Secretary,
Ballymun Transport Action
Group,
Thomas McDonagh Tower,
Ballymun, Dublin 9.