Students missing college due to poor transport links - Cllr

“YOUNG people shouldn’t have the college they attend or other education decisions determined by whether they can get a seat on a bus in the morning,” declared Cllr Sinéad Flynn at the October meeting of Monaghan County Council.

Cllr Flynn (SF) was highlighting the plight of Ballybay students attending Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT).

“These students have to use a Local Link service to get to Castleblayney to connect with the public bus service to Dundalk,” she explained. “But this bus is often full by the time it reaches Castleblayney, leaving the students stranded in ‘Blayney with no immediate means of transport to college or back home. Students are missing college because there isn’t a seat on the public service for them.”

Cllr Flynn said she is also aware of Clones students who have to travel to Monaghan Town in order to get a morning bus to Dundalk.

She moved a motion calling on Transport Minister, Darragh O’Brien, to urgently review the frequency and capacity of Bus Éireann services in the county with particular reference to the Monaghan-Dundalk route.

The motion also called for increased capacity and additional daily services between the two towns.

Cllr Flynn further proposed that the Council write to the National Transport Authority’s Director of Public Transport Services, Jeremy Ryan, and Bus Éireann Regional Manager, Jim McFaul, requesting a meeting to discuss greater public transport provision across the county.

She said that a planned extension at the Bus Éireann depot in Monaghan Town must be matched by greater investment in public transport in the county. “The current situation is another example of Monaghan being left behind,” she complained.

Seconding the proposals, Cllr Paul Gibbons (SF) said that DkIT’s recent linkage with Queen’s University, which will see the Dundalk institution transition into a university college, has increased its attractiveness as a destination for Monaghan students but Bus Éireann has not stepped up to meet the increased demand.

“For students to be left standing on a consistent basis is highly frustrating,” he stated.

Cllr Gibbons said he knew of students who had to get a bus to Monaghan Town very early in the morning in order to get to DkIT for exams. “This is ludicrous in this day and age,” he declared.

Cllr Sean Gilliland (FG) said: “It is Third World stuff we are experiencing in public transport, particularly in the Ballybay-Clones area.”

He recalled that a very reputable company had provided a service from Ballybay to Carrickmacross but this was suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic and never resumed.

He said that Local Link service is doing everything it can to improve the Ballybay-Carrickmacross service but it still doesn’t have a service to take people to hospital appointments.

“The government has to step in and put a service on,” Cllr Gilliland urged. “We are heavily reliant on public transport in Monaghan and, if the government wants to cut down on the use of cars, they have to put on a decent bus service.”

Cllr Flynn’s proposals were supported unanimously.