The city council has been asking citizens to tell them what needs to be done to our streets to keep us safe during the Covid-19 pandemic. You can send them your ideas using this web form: https://consultation.dublincity.ie/traffic-and-transport/covid-mobility-measure-request-form/

My neighbour Lauren Tuite has made an excellent submission which I fully endorse and support. You can see it at this link https://forms.gle/wauxRdNTfn29VE8o8 It proposes to pedestrianise the space in front of Kinsella’s Pub (previously the Village Inn)and put outdoor space in front of the Black Lion.

This is the kind of critical thinking we need in a place which is choked with traffic, despite the many alternative routes around the area. The Nitrous Oxide reports from last year showed how toxic our air is. I have called for 30kmh on Tyrconnell Road, and some encouragement to persuade drivers to go around instead of through in the past. These measures will be great at reducing lung problems, heart problems and even memory problems for people who live beside Tyrconnell and Emmet Roads.

The council needs more ideas in our area. Much of what has been done has been in some of the leafier suburbs. We deserve some action too, and not just to be somewhere to drive through. I support “to it, not through it” for Inchicore.

I am also still working on a submission for the narrow footpath on the South Circular Road between the Hilton and the Chapelizod bypass, so that we can all get down to the parks more safely. Watch @OisinOhAlmhain on Twitter for updates!