'Little Hitler' accusations during Mayo speed limit row
There are proposals to reduce speed limits in the county.
Officials in the Department of Transport were branded 'Little Hitlers' during an emotive Mayo County Council debate on proposed speed limit reductions.
Councillors were divided on a plan that will see the default speed limit on local and regional roads reduced from 80km per hour to 60km per hour.
While some councillors were vehemently opposed to some of the reductions on certain roads, others contended that the dangers of speeding and deaths on the roads trumped all arguments.
“To me, it is Little Hitlers dictating to us and putting a gun to our heads and saying this is what is going to happen if we don’t agree to it,” said Cllr Michael Loftus. “This is wrong for local roads. If this was going to save a life I would be in total agreement with it but the kneejerk reaction was based on national roads and not local roads. It’s absolute madness."
Cllr Gerry Coyle was also angered by the diktat issued to councillors.
“Do this or else. We have to agree with them or they will punish us all and get out the big stick. I have never seen anything like this in my life. It is lunacy,” he stated.
Cllr Harry Barrett countered that the electorate wants speed reductions and Mayo has the “worst roads in the country”.
“People wanted speed reductions in their villages, they wanted rumble strips, they wanted ramps, and they wanted signage to get the speed down because they are terrorised in the outskirts of Castlebar. We have to do something about it and I completely agree with the reduction in speed limits,” said Cllr Barrett.
Cllr Michael Kilcoyne, who works as an undertaker, said speed kills and action needs to be taken.
“I have been out to come some of these road accidents that have been contributed to by speed. The reason the reduction was brought in was to reduce the number of deaths, particularly in Mayo, which I think has the highest number this year,” he stated.
Fianna Fáil’s Damien Ryan proposed that a decision on adopting the special speed limit by-laws be deferred until January when more clarity is provided by the Department of Transport and potential legal advice is sought.
Cllr Kilcoyne offered up a counter-proposal urging councillors to adopt the changes. His proposal was defeated by 15 votes to eight.
