Railroading through a community

Dear sir - Having studied the rail route options proposed last week by Iarnrod Eireann for the Dunboyne to Navan line, I fear for the future of a village I have been proud that my life has centred around for some 30 years. The proposal to link Dunshaughlin with Dublin and Navan by rail is to be welcomed; the prospect of Irish Rail"s Blue Line destroying our community is not. Make no mistake that Line B - as outlined by Irish Rail in Dunshaughlin and Navan last week without consulting many of the property owners directly affected, myself included - is the last throw of the Celtic Tiger dice for many of the developers who have just bankrupted this country. Line B is not about access to a rail service for the people already resident in Dunshaughlin - it is about maximising potential profit from the last remaining landbanks in a village already pillaged by developers who have given precious little back to our community. This Line B proposal from Irish Rail, remarkably similar to one put forward by local developers late last year, is not about improving the lot of the commuter who must now choose between the tolled M3 motorway or the potential park and ride services to be offered at Dunshaughlin North or Dunshaughlin West. It is about the greed of the builders who want to throw thousands more houses and people into an area already bereft of basic facilities. Let"s face the facts here - those same cash-hungry builders and the planners in Meath County Council have given precious little back to Dunshaughlin up to now. Where are the sporting facilities promised to our youth? Where are the car parks, the restaurants or the shopping facilities that are commonplace in many of our neighbouring communities? Dunshaughlin has been built on and its residents walked on by developers and Meath County Council, its planners and its councillors, for the past 20 years. Any decision to route the railway line through the historic Lagore Crannog will be the final nail in the coffin of a congested community. Of course, I have a vested interest here. Irish Rail couldn"t bother to inform me of the fact before they unveiled it publicly, but they will destroy my home and those of many of my neighbours between Dunshaughlin and Dunsany with their Route B. Doubtless, Minister Dempsey has a difficult decision on his hands when Irish Rail make their final declaration. The Blue Line, or Route B, will make billions for Fianna Fail"s cronies in the disappearing building trade but, if right is right, the Minister must think Pink, opt for Line A and save Dunshaughlin with a facility equally as accessible to the majority of our residents who already live to the west of the village. One final thought - I can"t get high-speed broadband just two miles outside Dunshaughlin but I can get a high-speed train through my property without my consent. Modern Ireland or what? Yours, Cathal Dervan, Killeen, Dunsany.