Spokes fired.
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has hit back at claims that he had his bike driven to Limerick at the expense of the Government.
Minister Ryan was responding to a speech by Independent TD Richard O’Donoghue that took place in Dáil Éireann last week in which O’Donoghue stated that Ryan had his bike physically transported from Dublin to Limerick by a state driver in a state car.
“You may have heard in a Dáil speech by TD Richard O’Donoghue last week; that I had my bike driven down to me in Limerick by a state driver in a state car,” said Ryan on Twitter on Wednesday afternoon.
“I do not have a state car or driver,” Ryan clarified after a vaguely Coleen Rooney-esque dramatic pause. “My bike also never left Dublin,” he added.
In a series of follow-up posts, Ryan explained how he drove to Limerick in his own vehicle and subsequently borrowed a bike from a fellow Green Party member.
“If I was going to take my bike with me on [a] trip to Limerick I would make use of the bicycle storage unit on board Irish Rail bike carriages,” he added.
I drove down to Limerick in my own car where II borrowed a bike from a local Green Party member in order to help promote the Limerick School Cycle Bus which does an amazing job organising a daily school run by bike for children and their parentshttps://t.co/t19EM9NVmv
— Eamon Ryan (@EamonRyan) June 8, 2022
If I was going to take my bike with me on trip to Limerick I would make use of the Bicycle storage on board @IrishRail Bike carriages pic.twitter.com/LMbpIP4lVg
— Eamon Ryan (@EamonRyan) June 8, 2022
Limerick-based O’Donoghue’s remarks came in tandem with an overall criticism of Ryan’s apparent failure to deliver an adequate nationwide transportation system.
A notably animated O’Donoghue challenged Minister Ryan in the Dáil last Thursday (2 June) with regards to the “overpopulation” of Dublin amidst calls for flights into the capital to be diverted to regional airports.
“I’ve people from Dublin ringing me on a constant basis now telling me that this Government has destroyed their future, and their children, their grandchildren – why? Because you allowed Dublin to be overpopulated and they no longer can afford for their children to live in Dublin so they want you to deploy everything back into the regional areas,” said O’Donoghue.
“So all our families can live – if they want to live in Limerick or they want to live in Dublin, they’re allowed do that. But Dublin has been overpopulated for years and all of the businesses have been shoved into Dublin. It’s time now to disperse around the country and then the proper transport infrastructure would work on a business case because the population would be dispersed and we could have a proper rail system, proper bus system and transport system.
“The failure of the Government is everything for years has been shoved into Dublin and it needs to be dispersed around this country.”
In response, Minister Ryan acknowledged that there is a need for regional areas across the country to thrive, though warned there are “huge complexities and difficulties” in balancing the matter.
Featured Imagery via Sam Boal / Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie
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