Dublin Bus plans for the 42b, 27, 27b and other routes in this area are nothing more than an attack on a vital public service. Far from their claim that it is about improving efficiency and reliability, these changes are really about cost cutting and cutting back services. In the last year and a half Dublin Bus have cut almost 200 buses from its fleet and laid off hundreds of drivers and other workers.

The latest round of cuts, under the guise of the Network Review will do nothing to improve the services we need and rely on.

The changes in North Dublin and across the city mean;

* Removing bus routes from estates they have serviced for decades and forcing people to walk further for a bus. This will save the company time and effort but will discourage people, especially older people from using the service.
* Merging routes from the North side with South side routes. In theory this might sound good, with easier access to other parts of the city, but in reality it means the new bigger merged route will have far fewer buses operating on it than the previously two separate routes did. It means a huge reduction in the number of actual buses operating,
* Cutting or eliminating smaller routes. Routes that do not make a profit, but provide a vital service, face being axed, as the company seek to reduce its costs.
* While estates built across the city are without any bus service, this Government has watched as hundreds of buses are scrapped.

Bus cuts are just part of the picture. Across in transport, health, education and social services, we are been told we must accept cuts, cuts and more cuts. To pay for the bail out of banks we are told we must slash our services, pay and welfare.

This is a question for Our Politicians on Your Doorstep about Rescuing Senior Bondholders of Anglo-Irish Bank with Our Monies.

AVIVA is one of Anglo-Irish Bank’s senior bondholders. AVIVA is also a huge multinational insurance and financial corporation based in the United States. It is the sixth largest insurance business in the world, paying massive profit dividends to their shareholders. In the recent past, it has moved 200 jobs from Ireland, outsourcing them to India.

ALL of the senior bondholders of Anglo-Irish Bank, including AVIVA, have been bailed out by the government and will be paid in full for their losses. To do this, the government is using our taxpayers’ monies, our National Pension Reserve Fund, and the monies we have borrowed at very high rates of interest from the ECB and the IMF. This is our children’s future being given to this multinational corporation to repay it for having gambled on the stock price of Anglo-Irish Bank.

When the government funding for rebuilding Lansdowne Road Stadium ran short, AVIVA stepped in to top up the final bill, but in a public bid that auctioned off the rights to Lansdowne as a national resource. Lansdowne was renamed AVIVA Stadium. It has not been renamed Irish taxpayers and AVIVA Stadium.

When VHI announced the other week that it was putting up premiums drastically, AVIVA spokespeople gave a number of interviews tut-tutting the lack of responsibility of VHI in so doing and advertising AVIVA’s wares. AVIVA said it had no plans to raise premiums. Over 30,000 people switched to AVIVA. Today AVIVA announced substantial price rises in its premiums.

A NORTHSIDE carpenter is hoping to give politicians a run for their money in the upcoming election and has put himself forward to run in the Dublin North West constituency on behalf of construction workers who have borne the brunt of the recession.
Andrew Keegan, of Shanliss Road in Santry, has thrown his name into the hat in the three-seater constituency under the banner of the Campaign for Building Workers.
The 48-year-old, who has over 30 years’ experience in the building industry, has been asked to be the voice of all those who have suffered as a result of the collapse of the construction sector.
“I’ve been talking the talk and giving out about the Government for some time now, which is probably why my construction worker friends put it to me to walk the walk and put myself forward in the general election,” he told Northside People.
“There are over 100,000 unemployed construction workers out there so I intend to represent them and their families.
“I don’t believe that there’s been a downturn in the construction industry – it’s a complete collapse.
“With thousands of families losing their main wage earner due to the collapse of the construction industry, they find themselves on the breadline, in debt and unable to provide the basics for their families.
“Often they are even unable to maintain a roof over their heads.”
The outspoken father-of-one admits that his chances of getting a seat are “slim” but says he is using the election as a platform to voice the frustration, needs and concerns of those directly affected by the recession.
“I know I probably have a very slim chance of winning a seat but I could be surprised,” he said.

  Cllr Joan Collins, People Before Profit candidate in Dublin South Central told it how it was today outside Dail Eireann to Bertie Ahern, while