The long-awaited Luas service between Dublin city centre and Tallaght finally got under way yesterday after being launched by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, accompanied by the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, and an invited guest list of almost 800 people.
Commenting that the line would change the perception of the city, linking Connolly and Heuston stations, the Financial Services Centre, hospitals and educational facilities, Mr Ahern said Luas was "a powerful statement about our vision for Dublin's future".
However, his sentiments were not echoed by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Michael Conaghan, who surprised onlookers by calling for the closure of the Dublin Transportation Office and commenting that Luas would do little in the short term to address the needs of a city "that is running on 19th-century transport infrastructure".
While the trams would do a lot symbolically, the Lord Mayor said, people had said to him: "What is the big deal about going to the airport? What is the big mantra about the airport?"
He did not think the airport should be the focus of future extensions. The focus should be "Ballymun, the Coolocks of Dublin, the Finglases of Dublin, the Ballyfermots of Dublin". Dubliners would have their appetites for the system whetted by seeing the current lines and would demand four, he said.
Mr Conaghan said quality bus corridors were too frequently empty and needed to be extended to the outskirts of the city with a "necklace" of park-and-ride infrastructure. "Minister, we need buses bringing people into the city, free of charge if necessary," he said. "We need to do this in the short term. I think we should be addressing that now."
Referring to the complex plan for public transport for the city, he added: "I am in favour of the idiot's guide rather than the manual of the DTO which came out 10 years ago and hasn't been revised and really is a piece of fantasy."
After the speeches Mr John Henry, director of the DTO, said he thought the Lord Mayor's comments were "outrageous".
Mr Conaghan was "ill informed", he said, adding that the transport plan for Dublin had been compiled in 2001, not 1994. Mr Henry added that 1994 was when the tram system was proposed and he suggested the Lord Mayor might be "confused".
He also said he did not understand his comments about the quality bus corridors as many had already been provided, but perhaps the Lord Mayor felt there should be more buses on the routes.
Asked if he would be taking his advice in standing down the DTO, the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, said he would be more inclined to give it more new executive powers.
It was a body, he said, in which he had confidence and which provided excellent research into the problems of traffic in Dublin.
Luas services on the Tallaght line are without charge to the public for six days, according to the operator, Connex.
However, it will be about another month before the line achieves the desired time of 43 minutes for a full trip covering the 23 stops between Tallaght and Connolly station.
The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) was not prepared to say yesterday when the service would move from a 10-minute frequency at peak hours to the promised five minutes.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, travelled as far as the Red Cow roundabout and was not on the tram to see it cross the now infamous interchange - in about 2½ minutes - about 1½ minutes longer than expected. It pulled into Connolly station 54 minutes after leaving Tallaght at 10.06 a.m., about 11 minutes over the target time.
However, the chief executive of the RPA, Mr Frank Allen, has given instructions for safety to be placed ahead of speed. He said it was important that motorists and pedestrians realised there was another road-user to consider.
