A woman has said she quit her job in Dublin because she was leaving her home in Co Kildare three hours before work in order to arrive on time and secure parking.
Deirdre Gowran (49), from Rathangan, was working in a senior administration role at Crumlin Children’s Hospital before she left in June 2024.
Gowran said she would leave her home at 5.30am to ensure she was on time and could secure parking before she started at 8.30am, travelling along the M7 and N7.
“It was ridiculous,” she says. “I would leave so early to avoid being late, I’d rather be early than a minute late. Coming home in the evening would be anything up to two hours.
“I was spending the same amount of time on my commute as I was physically in the job.”
Gowran said the commute and rising traffic levels were the “main factor” in her deciding to leave the post for a similar position at Peamount Healthcare in Newcastle, Co Dublin.
“I couldn’t deal with the traffic. I just couldn’t physically do that drive any more,” she said.
“I would have stayed on in Crumlin. I was also getting over long Covid and a lot of it was joint pain. It would also cause a lot of anxiety in terms of the thoughts of getting in the car and having to drive into Dublin.”
Gowran says her current commute along the M7 and N7 can range from 40 minutes without traffic but up to an hour and a half if there is congestion.
Deirdre Gowran says there should be Government incentives for people to car pool. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
“I would say there is between 50 and 60 per cent more traffic on the N7 over recent months,” she says. “There used to be a quiet time on the N7 but not any more.
“I don’t know whether that is people returning to the office or maybe more students are driving where they would have used public transport before.
“A lot of the secondary roads are also being used and they’re getting backlogged. It’s having a knock-on effect on all the little villages.”
The issue of traffic congestion, in particular delays on the M50 and M7/N7, has been raised continuously by commuters, politicians and transport experts recently.
Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien will chair a forum of stakeholders later this month focused on addressing congestion in the Greater Dublin Area.
Attendees are due to include the National Transport Authority, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, Dublin Bus, GoAhead Ireland, Bus Éireann, Irish Rail, An Garda Síochána, the four Dublin local authorities, the Department of Transport and the Department of Justice.
O’Brien said congestion is a “real and pressing issue” and there needs to be “a fresh look” at what more can be done to ease the pressure on roads.
[ The 3.5-hour, 35km commute: Kildare motorists on their M7 traffic ‘nightmare’Opens in new window ]
Two memos – the Moving Together strategy and Sustainable Mobility Policy Action Plan – were also brought to Cabinet this week aimed at tackling congestion and transport-related air pollution in urban areas and supporting the delivery of over 40 transport-related commitments in the programme for government.
Gowran says there should be Government incentives for people to car pool and examine whether community hubs could be established outside of the capital for civil servants to work.
“People were kind of encouraged to live outside of Dublin and to commute. Now some people are spending longer on their commute than they are in the office. My heart breaks for them,” she says.
“They must be wrecked before they even start up a computer. It’s really tough on them. Employers have to be far more aware of what their employees are going through to turn up and do a good job.”