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20th December 2016
12:10am GMT
You may remember Transport 21.
It was the plan proposed by Fianna Fáil in 2005 to revolutionise Ireland's infrastructure, and give Dublin the interconnected rail system it's so sorely been missing for all these years.
Nearly 10 years on, certain elements of the scheme have come to fruition – namely the Luas extensions and cross-city works that are currently in progress – but the vast majority has been either shelved or canned since the recession hit.
It's been back in the news over the past few days, as the Government have been looking at alternatives the Metro North plan and have given the go-ahead to a Dart extension out to Balbriggan.
But when you look at the grand vision for a neatly connected Dublin that excited us all a decade ago, it's hard not to feel a little bit let down by these meagre scraps...
With Luas running out to Lucan and Bray, as well as a seriously enviable METRO line that comprehensively covers the underserved west and north of the city, this was a plan that really would have transformed Dublin had it come to fruition.
And instead, we're getting all excited about the DART being extended by a few stops on an existing line.
Sigh.
