Is there a master plan, or are they making it up as they go along?

IWISH I’d seen Ralph Fiennes acting in Ibsen’s play The Master Builder. It has a self-tortured protagonist, the master builder Solness (which sounds like soulless). He is jealous of his ambitious young rivals and carries bucket-loads of guilt. He wears hubris like tight ski pants. His downfall is that he takes on more than he is able to, and in dealing with others he never sees the plank in his own eye.

The play has several other layers. It’s tough enough to read, and I am struggling with it. But then Ibsen writes: “It is the small losses in life that cut one to the heart.”

I love it when someone creates a character like Solness. I’m already afraid, but the fear is hurting me lovely.

Recently, I was at the Aras, celebrating Bloomsday with many others at a garden party. A couple of days after that I rang eFlow, the barrier-free tolling system.

I spoke to a very nice eFlow man — who took my credit card number but would not give me his second name. I thought that a bit odd, but I am odd myself and if I don’t pay eFlow I could end up like the man on the Joe Duffy show who owed thousands because his bill kept multiplying. Save me from the multiplier. Neither a lender nor a ...

Then today I get an email telling me to register now for eFlow but not to reply to this email — because no one will reply to you, Billy No Mates.

So why have I to register again, and give all my details if I gave them already to the nice man who would not give me his surname? So I ring eFlow and an equally nice woman tells me I owe €2 and something but they won’t take it out of my account until next month.

But, she adds, if you register, you can see the previously unseen. You can see where you have been and where you are going to. have hideous written all over them. Retired environmental editor of the Irish Times Frank McDonald described the proposed plans at Bonham Quay (new docks) as “ghastly generic anywhere stuff”.

Most disturbing of all is that the council is not preparing any Local Area Plans (Laps), but is relying on developer-led plans — to save money I suspect. Is this not a very dangerous route for the council to take? Does it not set a very dangerous precedent? Does the planning department in Galway not remember the collapse of the Celtic Tiger? Did developers not strut around like Greek Gods with their Laps in their togas, their heads in the clouds?

As Ibsen wrote in The Master Builder: “Castles in the air — they are so easy to take refuge in. And easy to build, too.’’

Adding to the disturbing aspect of all this is the fact that there is little or no public consultation about all these massive developments. I ask you, WTF is going on?