One of the many things that annoys me about life in Ireland is the level of ignorance around responsibilities as in what Government body should be doing what, which gives rise to wasted effort on the part of campaigners who spend time barking up the wrong tree as they either demand something from a State body that has no responsibility in that regard or protest to the wrong level of authority about a law they don’t agree with (e.g. complaining to their local authority about EU derived legislation).
In this regard, the Department of Child indoctrination Education and Youth has a role to play, in requiring mandatory religion classes in schools and not some form of Civics class, which would explain how society (should) work.
When Joe Normie engages in such behaviour, I do give them the benefit of the doubt, due to the lack of such education in the school system. When this level of ignorance comes from an elected representative, I get very worried.
And so it is with this story from Kilmallock in Co. Limerick. The Dublin – Cork railway runs through Kilmallock (the station is, unfortunately, closed). This includes a road bridge over the railway line.
As is common in the 21st century, the level of road traffic in the area is far in excess of what these 19th century bridges were built for and there are calls for an adjacent footbridge to be built over the railway to accommodate pedestrians.
In relation to the funding of this, the rules in this regard are quite clear. Where the original bridge exists, CIE (Irish Rail), as successors to the original railway company, are responsible for the bridge. However, if a new bridge over the railway on a new/expanded footprint is required, the railway company is not responsible for the cost, this falling to the entity requiring the bridge (in most cases, this will be the local authority or TII).
This has not stopped Cllr. Eddie Ryan calling for Irish Rail to pay for a footbridge – the Limerick Leader reporting:
Meanwhile, independent councillor Eddie Ryan said that Irish Rail should be the ones funding the bridge, given the bridge crosses over railway tracks.
Limerick Leader https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/local-news/2018621/calls-for-pedestrian-bridge-in-busy-limerick-town-amid-highly-dangerous-road.html
IMHO, not only should a civics course be mandatory in secondary schools, it needs to be mandatory to pass such a course before election to public office.