The bike shed controversy shows us we don’t condone investment in sustainable transport [Video]

WE LIKE NOTHING more than a lovely car park in this country. Lots of gorgeous tarmacadam, freshly painted white lines and beautiful, shiny new ticket machines.

We get goosebumps at the mere announcement of a new car parking facility. And there are many, many opportunities to get excited. You can’t flick the pages of a regional newspaper without discovering a local Cathaoirleach has cut the ribbon of yet another brand, spanking new automobile crèche.

I jest, of course. Car parks are perhaps the dullest, most miserable non-places that blot our urban landscape. They are dead zones, black holes in the middle of our vibrant city ecosystems. And yet, we quietly worship them. In fact, my own non-scientific research below shows that many new car parks have either been granted planning or have opened over the past year.

National hysteria

While the costs involved in the new Leinster House bike shed undoubtedly seem …