February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Veterans of road travel in Ireland have for generations appreciated the illusion brought on by the twists and turns of an Irish country road.
A mile can seem like an eternity. Now it’s bound for it.
The minister for transport, Seamus Brennan, announced last week that all road signs referring to miles, for both distances and speeds, will be taken down by September.
All signage from that point on will be metric, showing distances and speed limits in kilometers only.
The change will make continental Europeans feel at home.
But visitors from the U.S., Britain and even Northern Ireland, where the imperial mile still rules, will be reaching for their conversion tables.
Many Irish roads signs have been metric for some years now, but numerous older mile versions have also remained in place, thus giving travelers a sometimes confusing mix of numbers to crunch.
Uniformity, however, is now the rule of thumb.
There will still be reminders of older times and distances, however.
Sixmilecross in County Tyrone will be safe, at least as long as partition lasts.
Sixmilebridge in County Clare will doubtless fight to the last furlong in order to preserve its name.
Milehouse in County Wexford, and Milestone in Tipperary are a bit off the beaten track and will be hoping to escape the ministerial scrutiny emanating from Dublin.
As for the village of Inch in County Wexford? There are no plans to change its name to centimeter so far as the locals know.
Meanwhile, the Long Mile road, a stretch of dual carriageway on the west side of Ireland’s capital, will certainly hold on to its lengthy title because, as everyone knows, there’s no such thing as a long kilometer.
Especially in Ireland.