BUS ÉIREANN REPS TAKEN TO TASK FOR SHORTCOMINGS IN MONAGHAN TRANSPORT SERVICES

TOWN STATION BRANDED “DUMP” AND “NATIONAL DISGRACE” BY MUNICIPAL DISTRICT MEMBERS

Bus Éireann representatives who attended last Monday’s meeting of the Monaghan Municipal District were told that the bus station in Monaghan town was “like a dump” and a “national disgrace”. The elected Municipal District members aired complaints about the lack of shelter at the facility for waiting passengers, the condition and availability of toilet facilities there, the ongoing closure of the hospitality area and the fact that calls to the station on its local number were not being answered.

They also voiced concern about the discontinuation of an early morning Dublin Airport service, and the reliability of the service when it was operational. Bus Éireann Regional Operations Manager for the East region Adrian O’Loughlin, who was accompanied at the meeting by Services Delivery Manager for the North-East Michael McKeown, acknowledged that the station was in need of significant investment and said that a funding application was being made to Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the Department of Transport.

He said that the coffee shop and associated hospitality services at the station were expected to reopen in the coming weeks after their closure to comply with Covid-19 guidelines. No decision had yet been made on the resumption of the early morning Dublin Airport service from Monaghan, he informed the meeting. Sinn Féin councillor Seán Conlon told the Bus Éireann representatives that the Municipal District had a similar engagement five years previously because of representations from local users about what was a very unsatisfactory service. There had subsequently been some positive developments in relation to disabled access and the outside toilet block but the…