People losing confidence in public transport, says O’Reilly

Sinn Féin TD Louise O’Reilly has raised the issue of poor public transport in her constituency in the Dáil.

The TD for Dublin Fingal said that she has spoken to constituents who are on a final written warning from their employers because they are “late all the time” due to the unreliability of bus services in the area.

O’Reilly said “disappearing buses” undermines the confidence people have in public transport and were using their cars as a result, adding to Dublin’s traffic problems and carbon emissions.

“They get let down by the bus time and time again, with no choice then but to join all of the traffic heading down the M1 in the morning, contributing to carbon emissions because they are left with no choice.”

“I raised the issue of the magic disappearing North Dublin buses, but the Government gave the contract to GoAhead again,” she noted.

“It’s happened to me many times, you stand there and wait, but it disappears off the display. It undermines the confidence people have in public transport – many mornings kids are forced to drive their kids because they have no confidence in the public transport system,” she added.

Fine Gael TD Josepha Madigan was deputising for Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan, and the Dublin Rathdown TD said that “ghost buses” are also a problem in her constituency.

When O’Reilly mentioned that she was unable to cycle between towns in her area, Madigan said this was not good enough and would raise the issue with Minister Ryan.

O’Neill was discussing the planned Metrolink and DART, which she claims does not take people from her area into consideration. 

“Projects like the DART+ and Metrolink are announced but my area gets forgotten and put to the back even though it’s been more than 10 years since bridges were raised on the northern line to accommodate the DART,” she said in the Dáil. 

“The need is very very acute,” and cited the example of Lusk, a town which has seen its population treble since 2002 and now has a massive demand for public transport.

O’Neill said there was a certain amount of cynicism when projects like the Metrolink are invoked, and said there are people in her constituency who bought houses because there were photos of Metrolink on it, only for it to get delayed.

“They thought their kids might use it to go to school and in time use it to collect their pension – instead, there is a lot of frustration in the area because when a big project is planned the small stuff doesn’t get done,” she said.

The delays were noted by Madigan, who conceded that residents would only start to see improvements to transport across Dublin by early 2025.

Discussing the delays, Madigan said that there were delays in relation to BusConnects as it underwent an intensive public consultation process, but noted that the feedback was “very positive.”

Madigan alluded to delays stemming from the Covid-19 era and issues surrounding driver recruitment, while also citing delays on An Bord Pleanála’s part as causing delays to transport improvements. 

Concerns about public transport in North Dublin were raised by Fianna Fáil senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee, who said “any deprioritisation of transport schemes of such vital importance as Metrolink, DART+ and road projects due to this deficit would have devastating effects both nationally and here in North County Dublin.”

“Residents of North County Dublin deserve sustainable communities and require the access to their places of education, work, healthcare and to cultural and social events that only these projects, if delivered in full, can provide effectively,” she said.