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Wow, I see the daily crab has been quoted in Irelands leading trade magazine
In the August edition Checkout Top 100 Brands an article appears under the heading " Topaz steals Applegreen Strapline?"

It gave me such a warm feeling to know that such a distinguished magazine was checking out my blog. It does get very lonely down here in the complaints department you know, so blogging kind of brightens up my day. The article refers to the "Topaz, thats better. Applegreen, now that's better" post.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Dublin motorists are into the first few weeks of barrier free tolling on the M50 . How is it all panning out? With toll tags, billing, toll scams, e-flow, etrip, eazipass, directroute, M50 bounty hunters, etc., the story of the M50 resembles one of Dylan's list songs. Let me know your experiences over the past weeks. Let me know what you think of the toll system in general, the M50 is not the only tolled road in Ireland.

The boss told me I should be concentrating on the issues that Irish motorists face daily rather than bothering myself with alleged theft of straplines. I told him I was going to look for feedback on the toll issue. "Toll issue he says, now thats better!"

Sorry about the layoff. Been in Lithuania since I last talked to you.
Luckily enough I got back in time to catch Petrogas director Joe Barrett on Irelands Radio 1's Liveline programme.

A researcher from Liveline had already called Josephines a few months previously. A truck driver had complained about being asked to leave the car park at Josephines Applegreen Urlingford , Co. Kilkenny. The manager had explained that Health and Safety problems caused by trucks in the Josephines car park had left him no choice but to stop trucks using the facility. That ban went into operation over 4 years ago. Presumably the Liveline team didn't think it was a runner then and the piece had not appeared later in the live show.

This time however the complaint was from a woman trucker (or two?) whose main beef was the lack of toilet facilities on Irish motorways. A string of truckers lined up to vent their displeasure at being barred from Josephines. Some had a rather distorted view of the size of the car park at Josephines, one claiming you could park 40 trucks in it!

Joe sympathised with the truckers plight and also reminded them that he was working closely with the NRA to solve this problem in the near future. However the fact was that Josephines being an official Bus Eireann stop was also responsible for the safety of its customers and that the decision to ban trucks came only after a number of accidents and potentially dangerous situations had occurred.

Since then, 2004, signs have been placed at the entrance stating trucks are not allowed. Many trucks still ignore the signs and drive in and then of course must be asked to leave. Hence the tension.

Guest host Derek Davis made a point of acknowledging Applegreen's "great coffee" and quickly turned the conversation to the governments responsibility to provide rest stops on motorways. Both Derek and Joe sympathized with the truckers plight but it was clear that in the case of Josephines, with 24,000 people using the facilities each week, there was no alternative but to look out for the safety of customers and bus passengers.

The real message to come out of the discussion was, that there are a lack of rest stop facilities in general on Irish roads and the fact that truckers and indeed all people in transit in this country are not catered for properly, when one compares Ireland to other European countries. The NRA are at present addressing the situation but it will take time as Joe Barrett pointed out. I would be very interested to hear your views on this situation and in fact any aspect of motorway services for which you have an opinion or suggestion.
The other message to come out of the show was that we have great coffee. At least the shows guest host Derek Davis thinks so!