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One of the more interesting aspects of the N4 Corridor stand-off is the manner in which public opinion as experienced on-the-street appears to have been remarkably well informed.
Very few "Ordinary" observers,passengers,resident,motorists who interact with the N4 Bus services would have any idea of what "Euro" duties or "Auxilliaries" were.
Thus they could only base their opinions on the appearance or not of THEIR usual bus at it`s usual time of day.

In the immediate lead up to the Circle Line closure (If that be what it is) it`s principal,Mr morton was afforded much media time to outline his case against Dublin Bus.
I for one was impressed,though not surprised at how he went for the gizzard and not for the first time,wiped the studio floor with Dublin Bus`s PR machine.

What DID surprise me however was the somewhat muted cries of support from Circle Line Bus`s customers and potential customers.
Indeed as the days wore on I began hearing and responding to questions from people who were asking...."What is he on about...?"

I believe Mr Morton may have misread the public`s desire to hear his long running war story as the responses I got largely revolved around Bus Customers contradicting his claims of "Flooding" of the corridor by Dublin Bus.
Put simply,if the corridor was flooded,the vehicles were mostly out-of-service and therefore no impediment to Circle Line services.

It is also quite apparent that the essential problem here goes directly back to the general abysmal state of Planning and Land Use in the Greater Dublin Region and has everything to do with shady,semi-legal if not downright criminal practices at the highest levels in Irish Public Administration.

These practices left us with a City and County which was carved up for the monetary benefit of a handful of well connected individuals who had no concept or desire to accquaint themselves with the actual living arrangements of the hundreds of thousands of Individuals who would have to live in the vast unplanned estates and "new" towns.

Thankfully it appears that Paul Mortons simplistic crusade against the Great Satan of Dublin Bus appears to have foundered somewhat,but it has pulled the covers back a bit on the incredible antics of the Department of Transport and particularly its virtually total vacuum at Principle Officer and Ministerial level.

Ordinary people expect a Minister for Transport,who is responsible for a Public Transport undertaking to familiarise himself with at least it`s basic functions.
What we got was an admission of Letter Writing,with apparently no actual focus.

Although we now hear that the Circle Line case is causing enough ripples to empower other private undertakings to consult their solicitors these persons should be very wary to tweaking the Tigers tail unless they are very familiar with how the beast will react...

The seeds of the N4 crisis were sown long ago.
When the then Taoiseach Mr Haughey intervened in the CIE / Temple Bar Transport Centre programme he set the seal on a half century of traffic and Public Transport chaos.
The original CIE scheme was as far sighted and future proofed as one could wish for and had it been progressed with would have given us a Capital City with a Publc Transport focus very firmly embedded at its core.

Instead Mr Haughey simply said NO and that 11th hour decision was given with no alternative being offered or even demanded.
We are still essentially unclear as to WHY The Taoiseach intervened and why that intervention was left until so late in the process.
The entire sad nasty little business has directly led us to where we sit today,in a City without ANY manageable Traffic or Transport plan...and not even Paul Morton himself can sort that one !!