‘I’m Just Like Tom Crean’, Says Man Walking On Luas Tracks
ONE Dublin commuter walking to town on the Luas tracks during the ongoing drivers strike has likened himself to famed Antarctic explorer Tom Crean, stating that his journey along the Green line in the morning is akin to Crean’s doomed 1911 trek to the South Pole with Captain Scott.
“Look at us all here, walking on the Luas tracks on the way into town. Don’t we all look totally badass?” said Cillian Mulhearne, a 26-year-old Ranelagh native who managed to traverse the treacherous terrain between his nearest Luas stop and the end of the line at St. Stephen’s Green.
“Some of us didn’t even bring any snacks with us, and there isn’t a Fresh around here at all. But you know, we chose to walk down these tracks… that’s just how amazing we are. There’s a footpath right there, but you don’t see any pictures of the people who walk on the footpath online, do you? Those are reserved for people like us, people who walk on the tracks”.
Mulhearne made the statements during the latest bout of Luas stoppages, as drivers continue to hold out for better pay and conditions from multi-national transport operators TransDev.
Like 99% of Irish people, Mulhearne has no sympathy for the workers standing up for themselves, stating that he’d love extra pay too but doesn’t strike.
“I get paid less than a Luas driver as it is, and I’m a manager in a restaurant,” said Mulhearne, picking a stone out of his shoe in much the same manner as Tom Crean must have picked a stone out of his shoe.
“What would happen if everyone I worked with suddenly turned round and told our employer that we wanted better pay and conditions? What if all of us in Ireland, in one go, said that we were going to stand together and stop being told what we were worth? No thanks. I’m going to stick with my current plan: complaining online about people that I’ve never met, who I’ve already decided are paid enough as it is”.
“Nurses don’t get paid that much,” he concluded, in a tone that suggested that the amount nurses get paid was in some way directly related to the amount a worker for a private company got paid.