Dublin 15 needs bus link to airport, councillors say

Dublin 15 councillors have criticised the lack of airport bus services in the area.

At a recent meeting of the Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart/Castleknock/Ongar Area Committee, various members of Fingal County Council expressed disappointment at the lack of engagement by the NTA on the issue.

Despite the area’s growing population and relative geographic closeness to Dublin Airport, there is no bus link from Blanchardstown to the airport at present.

The issue was raised by Labour councillor John Walsh, with fellow opposition councillors Angela Donnelly (Sinn Féin) and John Burtchaell (Solidarity) backing the motion alongside Fine Gael councillor Ted Leddy.

Castleknock councillor Walsh noted, “it is certainly not the first time this issue has been addressed before, and I know that councillor Donnelly brought it before the council a few months ago, and unfortunately we have not made any progress on it.”

The Labour councillor said that a bus between Blanchardstown and Dublin Airport was first proposed as part of the A-Spine of Busconnects, with an initial launch date of the second quarter of 2025.

In classic Irish style, that slipped into the second quarter of 2026, and the NTA now say that it could launch towards the end of 2026, contingent on funding and operational readiness.

“It looks very much like it may be delayed into 2027,” Walsh warned.

The issue was raised in the Dáil by Green TD Roderic O’Gorman in the Dáil in June.

Speaking in June, O’Gorman said, “I want to tie down a commitment the Minister made on a previous occasion that the route will be up and running by the end of this year.”

In response, Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien said he “hoped” that the service would be in place by the end of 2026, but also noted that it was a decision for the NTA to make, and not him specifically.

Minister O’Brien explained, “as soon as we can get funding for the route, it will be a priority project. We have increased the funding. I still think we will be on track for later this year or early next year to roll out the service. If we can do it any sooner, we will.”

The Fianna Fáil TD further explained, “it does come down to money.”

“When I came into the Department of Transport, we were very short of money, including PSO funding. Over the term of the previous government, every year there was a supplementary budget, that is, additional money added at the end of every year. We could not plan new services properly,” he said in June.

The summer break has not yielded a breakthrough in funding.

Walsh commented, “it is extraordinary that Dublin 15 is larger than Limerick City, a population of more than 100,000, and we don’t have a bus route to Dublin Airport.”

The Labour councillor said the situation is an “extraordinary failure”, and despite the issue being raised by both TDs and councillors, the NTA’s feedback on the issue has been “vague.”

“We need this bus service, and we need it now; it is not acceptable that we should be asked to wait any longer,” Walsh said.

Solidarity councillor John Burtchaell said, “we are beating our head against a brick wall with the NTA.”

“It is incredible you can get a direct bus from many counties to Dublin Airport, but you can’t get a direct bus from Dublin 15, which is just a few miles away.”

The Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart councillor said the M50 is being “clogged” with “unnecessary” cars of Dublin 15 workers, and those cars could be taken off the road if there was a bus service in place.

“We are going the wrong way with public transport. They are increasing fares by 15%. We should be offering free public transport and massively expanding it as part of the measures to address climate breakdown,” he said.

Sinn Féin councillor Donnelly relayed her own personal experience with the lack of a bus service.

The Ongar councillor noted that her husband, Sinn Féin TD Paul Donnelly, is able to avail of a Dublin Airport express bus from the Dáil on the Southside, but for someone living in Dublin 15, two bus trips are required to get them to the airport.

“If somebody is going with suitcases, it is really difficult to get onto a normal bus,” she said.

“The can has been truly kicked down the road,” she told the meeting.

Reading a letter from a Dublin 15 constituent who works in Dublin Airport, she said that the person lives in a three-bedroom apartment with 16 people “because that’s all I can afford on my starting salary at the airport.”

“My start time is 4am; I have to leave Dublin 15 at 1:30am to get a bus into town, and then out to the airport. I get into work too early, but if I leave the house any later than that, I can’t make it.”

Donnelly says “we have numerous stories like this, of people who can’t afford to live.”

The Ongar councillor said “public transport from Dublin 15 to the airport isn’t too much of an ask.”

Fine Gael councillor Ted Leddy “I have absolutely no doubt that this bus route, if it came to be, would be very profitable.”

The Castleknock councillor said he liaises with fellow Fine Gael councillors across Ireland, who are lobbying for bus routes to smaller towns, and said it was “astounding” that a bus service was not available in an area as big as Dublin 15. 

“In those cases, the profitability of bus services to smaller towns and villages is a bit of a stretch, but I have no doubt that the demand would be there for a bus service.”

Leddy noted, “I suspect there might be something else at play here; it could be something to do with BusConnects.”

Leddy predicted, “a bus leaving Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, several times a day, would be full every time.”

Minister O’Brien said, “additional bus routes are critical in those areas that are wholly dependent on bus services to get into town. As I said, I am working with the NTA, to get the route started this year.