THE opening of the new Northern Cross section of the M50 motorway last Friday should be wholeheartedly welcomed. It is a marvellous piece of infrastructure and much needed. Nevertheless, we hear rumblings of discontent from certain quarters.

There is a well used argument that building new roads merely draws in more cars and the congestion remains. This point is valid but simplistic. It is in the nature of roads to create traffic but they do so by stimulating economic activity. More employment, economic growth, a better quality of life for our citizens - these are mission statements that should underpin every activity that governments and planners engage in.

Undeniably, Dublin has a congestion problem. Traffic volumes have increased to levels that were predicted for five or six years hence. This is no random event. It is both a symptom and a cause of the present economic boom.

Before we decide that the car is the problem we should consider the enormous difference which Operation Freeflow has made. Properly managed, Dublin can cope with its cars. What we need most is a comprehensive development of our public transport so that commuters especially are not forced to rely completely on the private car.

It has become politically fashionable to see the car as some sort of environmental ogre. It appears that every child's cough and every warm summer come as omens, like superstitious portents of old. The car is choking the planet; the car will stifle us all. If we are not careful the poor car will be burned at the stake by the mob in this new revolution.

With encouragement from all quarters, including many who should know better, the car is the focus of an environmentally motivated campaign which seeks to curtail its growth at every turn.

The car has always had enemies. Earlier this century there were many people who just flatly refused to adapt to the new technology. The motorist was a vulgar eccentric - a nasty, noisy, smelly upstart who deserved no place in society's future.

Well that view has changed. The car is now stitched deeply into our society and our culture. If we have become dependent on our cars it is because they are so central to our lives.

The Irish motorist is a complex person. Not a sponger, nor someone who wilfully burns the future of the planet for short term gain, but a citizen who cares as much about the environment as everyone else.

There is certainly pro motoring and pro car. You might not expect that we also strongly favour the development of public transport, the encouragement of cycling as an alternative to driving and the growth of a move away from car use in cities.

We are not blindly in favour of the car but we recognise its importance. The role of the car in our transport systems is "prominent but not dominant".

There is a mistaken perspective that any measure which stops people sing cars is necessarily good; anything which promotes, encourages or just fails to punish those who drive curs is necessarily bad.

Yet what is at issue here is the whole question of mobility. It is an essential part of our freedom and central to our quality of life. It is provided by the car in a way that no alternative comes close to matching.

The car is an integral part of our society, bringing tremendous benefits. It is the No 1 choice for people's, transport needs and will be for the foreseeable future. Rejecting the car out of hand, heaping financial burdens on those who use it and attempting to squeeze it out of cities; these are counterproductive reactionist measures. It is essential to plan for, the motor car, unrealistic to plan against it.