*Photograph: Gary Collins
ONGOING FRUSTRATION with bus transport in Shannon has led to calls for the state-owned bus and coach operator to appear before a meeting of the area’s Municipal District.
Public protests have been held in the town of Shannon where locals voiced their anger over Bus Éireann’s 343 service. Capacity of the service has been stretched over the past twelve months since the influx of Ukrainian refugees. The 343 links Ennis to Limerick City via Clarecastle, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Shannon and Cratloe.
One such protest heard that a third year student nurse had to cancel her six week placement due to the unreliability of the bus service.
Chairman of Ógra Sinn Féin in Clare, Shane Doody addressed one of the protests before Christmas and stated, “For far, far too long now, we have been ignored and utterly disregarded both as a community and as customers”. He labelled it as “a second tier bus service that is inefficient and unequipped to manage Shannon’s ever growing population, with which Bus Éireann have failed to keep up”.
Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) proposed at this month’s sitting of the Shannon Municpal District that representatives of Bus Éireann be invited to a meeting to allow them “put forward the issues being brought to us with the 343 service and to have a discussion around resolving these issues”.
She added, “they’ve been responsive to complaints and they have put in double decker buses but there’s simple things that can be looked at”. The motion was seconded by Cllr Gerry Flynn (IND).
