Dublin Coach has apologised for the “failures” in its service from Ennis, with the company’s Regional General Manager Frances Cahill vowing, “going forward, we will not let you down”.

She appeared before a meeting of Ennis Town Council this week after concerns about the service known locally as the ‘Green Bus’ were previously raised by Councillor Mary Howard (FG).

She had likened the service to a “ghost bus” highlighting customer complaints over bus no-shows and the need for the service to improve.

However, at this week’s meeting of the council, Councillor Howard acknowledged there have been improvements to the service and the complaints from the public have stopped.

Ms Cahill, who joined Dublin Coach last year, told the meeting there has been a “massive shift” in passenger movement with a 100% increase in passengers since January and the service now bringing more than 1,300 people a week out of Ennis from the Temple Gate coach park.

Current service levels are at 96.5% she added and there has been an increase in the number of new buses on the route.

While she did not have the figures for the numbers coming into Ennis at the meeting she did say there were “a lot of people coming from Limerick and Dublin.”

She admitted, “It wasn’t great last year, I’m not going to deny that. But we are building it and building it back up”.

She said it is “public knowledge that the business has been struggling quite a lot due to a number of factors post Covid. Like a lot of operators in the private sector, we struggled with regard to fleet, drivers, costs and factors, fuel costs, everything, wage bills, everything, have increased”.

However she outlined there is a plan in place to ensure the company hits its service levels and achieves what it is supposed to in line with the license, she said.

“On behalf of Dublin Coach, I can really only apologise for the failures we have delivered to the people of Ennis, getting to work, getting to college. It’s not something I’m proud of,” she said.

She said she wishes to support County Clare as much as possible, with plans for the company’s growth including “bringing a spotlight onto Ennis” with the aim of driving tourism to the county capital.

Dublin Coach are engaging with the NTA and the RSA she outlined, with route 300 in Ennis also connected to Killarney, Tralee and Limerick.

“There is a lot of interconnection and discussions ongoing about what our future plans are to drive more passengers to have more tourism,” she said.

“We run 70 services a day, and I can assure you, that is by no means an easy feat. The business operates 24/7, I operate 24/7. But I assure you, going forward, we will not let you down, and I will stand over anything we say here today in relation to that.”

Councillor Howard thanked her for the update at the meeting as well as phone conversations they have had, saying other transport bodies have not been as open to engagement.

She said she had received “a world of complaints” prior to putting a motion before the February council meeting, and now “the complaints are no longer there, that the service has improved, and we do appreciate that”.

She welcomed the “positive update” and said she looked forward to future engagement. Ms Cahill responded that “transparency is important” including building relationships with the local authority.

“We need you just as much to help and support us in our growth plans with tourism and bringing a spotlight onto Ennis, so we look forward to working with you more in the future.”

Councillor Tom O’Callaghan (FF) said it was “disappointing” the issue had to be highlighted in the council chamber saying better communication was needed. He pointed out a lot of people in the town are dependent on the service.

Councillor Pat Daly (FF) said the Green Bus is an important service for students, workers, holiday makers and shoppers though he expressed worry over the numbers going to Dublin to shop.

He asked if a service bringing people from Dublin to Shannon Airport could be a possibility saying, “I’d love to see you produce another 70 buses to bring them down because the lifespan of a commercial airline in Clare needs every bit of help it can get”.

Ms Cahill responded that while she believes it should be done, she does not think it can be achieved.