A free interrail pass is a better option for young people than a week-long trip to Santa Ponsa, according to presenter Shane Coleman.
Fianna Fáil and the Green Party recently clashed over whether to push air or sea travel as part of DiscoverEU, which offers a free interrail ticket and a return flight to and from Ireland.
Under the current DiscoverEU plan, young people can apply for a free ticket but may not be selected to travel for free.
Both parties agree they want free interrail tickets for all 18-year-olds on an annual basis.
Presenter Jonathan Healy said there are better ways to spend your time than travelling through Europe.
The town centre at Meaux, 40km east of Paris. David Burton / Alamy Stock Photo“I’m fascinated by this idea of having a gap year or doing something nonsensical during the time when you finished the Leaving Cert and before you start college,” he told Newstalk Breakfast.
“You’re sending children on these little journeys where they have to ring their mammy somewhere from the middle of Germany because they run out of underpants.
“In Britain, they have this gap year culture, but we didn't have it here – when you turned 18, you worked.”
Interrail 'broadens their horizons'
Shane Coleman argued a few weeks travelling around Europe is a great experience for a young person.
“We should be encouraging people to broaden their horizons, to travel,” he said.
“I far prefer to see my 18-year-old gone on a train around Europe than go to Santa Ponsa.
“We’re part of the EU, we should be encouraging our young people to travel around the EU – I think it’s a brilliant idea.”
Jonathan suggested that making the interrail pass free teaches the wrong lessons to young people about travelling the world.
“It’s the element of giving it away for free and the entitlement that they’d have,” he said. “There’s something not sitting well with me.”
The Green Party is lobbying for a “single SailRail ticket to cover entire journeys to and from continental Europe across multiple transport modes” in this month's European elections.
