Tag Archives: bus eireann

AN appeal to support homeless people in Clare and other parts of the Mid West has had a “phenomenal” response according to organisers. Mid West Simon joined forces with Bus Éireann recently with a ‘Fill a Bus’ appeal, seeking contributions for the vulnerable, homeless and those at risk of homelessness in Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary this Christmas. More than 1,000 items were donated to fill bus parked up in Limerick last Thursday. The ‘Fill a Bus Food Appeal’ has been a “fantastic success” according to Jackie Bonfield, CEO of Mid West Simon. “The response from the people of Limerick has been phenomenal and the bus was filled to the brim with basic food staples, Christmas treats, toiletries and household goods. I would like to sincerely thank all those who contributed and especially to Bus Éireann staff for organizing this wonderful initiative and for helping out on the day. Please know that many adults and children have benefited from the …

A LISSYCASEY father whose child was recently adversely impacted by the concessionary selection system for public school transport has devised a new petition to spearhead radical reform. Up to 15 pupils from Lissycasey and surrounding areas had their places on a bus to St John Bosco Community College withdrawn at the start of the school year because of antiquated boundary rules, which deemed them ineligible and put them on the concessionary list. West Clare pupils will get their place on a bus after a new contractor was appointed last week with a larger vehicle. Ciaran O’Flaherty is gravely concerned about the Bus Eireann school transport policy currently in place, in relation to “eligible” and “concessionary” categorisation, as the sole means to complete selection. Mr O’Flaherty believes the current policy is unfair, unethical, unreasonable and divisive, creating real divide in rural communities and resulted in the recent West Clare “Bus Fiasco”. Requesting Bus Eireann to abolish the two-tier system, he is …

BUS Eireann has been accused of selecting a “dangerous junction” for a new collection point on the Loop Head Peninsula that leaves two local secondary school students without a home collection. Philippa Doherty has claimed there is no safe place to park her car at Crotty’s Cross as she waits for her son to be dropped off from a school bus coming from Kilkee Community College. Crotty’s Cross is a small crossroads and the last junction before Loophead lighthouse on the Wild Atlantic Way, which attracts heavy tourist traffic. “There is nowhere to pull in safely, one way is blind so you cannot see oncoming traffic and the bus should not be turning at this junction for safety reasons. The safest way for the bus is to continue down the L2000 from Crotty’s Cross down Fodera and back to Kilbaha village so the bus would not have to turn around at any point,” she explained. She is being supported by …

THERE has been a breakthrough in the dispute between angry West Clare parents and Bus Eireann over the withdrawal of concessionary places for bus transport to a secondary school in Kildysart. Up to 15 pupils from Lissycasey and surrounding areas had their places on a bus to St John Bosco Community College withdrawn because of antiquated boundary rules, which deemed them ineligible and put them on the concessionary list. West Clare pupils can now return to the bus after a new contractor was appointed with a larger vehicle. This comes in the wake of an intensive lobbying campaign by frustrated and parents and public representatives including Deputy Cathal Crowe and Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne, Deputy Crowe said the larger vehicle enables the route to be fully compliant from a socially distant point of view and also meant the increased capacity is now there for those additional 15 pupils, with their parents getting notified on Thursday. “I’ve spoken with some of the …

CLARE Sinn Féin TD, Violet-Anne Wynne, has called on the Department of Education to immediately clarify the finer details around the July provision transportation grant. “I have been contacted by a number of families who are still in the dark in terms of when this grant will be paid. In this unprecedented time of Covid-19 families are forced to budget every penny of their household income to ensure they can keep going. Every year the department would have normally supplied transport via a contract through Bus Eireann, this year that was stopped due to Covid-19, leaving families to have to arrange their own transport to and from schools,” Deputy Wynne stated. “While parents were happy to arrange same, they have since been left in the dark by the department on when they will be able to reclaim these expenses from the grant scheme. Some parents have told me how they have been making round trips of 130km twice a day …

BUS Éireann services at Shannon have been very poor in the recent past, with buses sometimes not coming at all, but management have promised improvements are on the way. At this week’s meeting of Shannon Municipal District members, a deputation from Bus Éireann attended and were told in no uncertain terms that local service users have had serious problems. Sinn Féin’s Councillor Mike McKee said that he has had numerous messages from local people about the standard of service. While he said there have been many efforts to get people to use public transport, for these to succeed, the services “must be efficient, punctual and affordable and it is none of those”. Regarding affordability, he said what Bus Éireann offers is far too expensive. “It’s absolutely ridiculous, the price of it. It’s over €10 return from Shannon to Limerick and back.” An equivalent journey on the continent would be far less pricey, he added. Councillor McKee said that what he …

FAMILY is the focus of this year’s Limerick Solemn Novena, in honour of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. People may have seen Our Lady on a double decker bus recently and no, their eyes are not deceiving them. The advertisement is part of a multimedia promotional campaign for the annual novena, which takes place from June 16 to 24 at the Redemptorist Church, Limerick. The novena is the biggest religious event in the Mid-West. Up to 10,000 people a day are expected to attend. The theme of this year’s novena, Home is You and Me, is marriage and family life. “The definition of family isn’t as simple as it was in the past,” explains novena director, Fr Seamus Enright, C.Ss.R. “As well as married couples, there are couples who are living together, lone parents, couples who are divorced and remarried, same sex couples, single people living on their own and so on. This variety of family combinations brings a lot …

Bus Éireann passengers in County Clare have been making alternative travel plans today as an-all out strike is underway. Among those discommoded are people who normally use bus services to get to work and those who travel from rural areas to Ennis for shopping and business. One regular Bus Éireann passenger from West Clare told The Clare Champion he was unable to make it to work today, which had serious implications for him and his employer. Bus Éireann services across the country stopped at midnight after drivers refused to work under the threat of pay cuts. Management at the transport firm are warning they need to plug a multi-million euro hole in their finances, but their claim that there’s ‘no basis’ for talks led to unions escalating their action. Unions representing drivers say members will engage in all-out indefinite strike until their greviences are addressed. Unions are in dispute with the company over cuts to pay, the casualisation of work and the …