Meeting sought on 109 bus route change

The elected members of Cavan County Council are demanded a meeting with Bus Éireann representatives and the National Transport Authority (NTA) in the hope of convincing them to return the current 109 service to its former route.

The matter was raised at the monthly meeting of elected members last Monday on foot of a letter received from Bus Éireann following prior representations. The council had highlighted the annoyance and discomfort caused to customers travelling from Cavan, in particular patients looking to alight at the Mater Hospital.
Since the route change came into effect, the 109X as it is now called, travels into stops at Blanchardstown before entering the city via the Finglas Quality Bus Corridor and O’Connell St before terminating at Busaras.
The letter this week advised that the route is determined by the NTA under a contract. “We will advise the NTA of your concerns,” the letter to Cllrs noted.
Fine Gael’s Madeleine Argue revealed that she had travelled the route herself and was told to get off at Kells in order to connect with a route travelling past the Mater Hospital. “That’s just not good enough.”
Sinn Féin’s Daniel Downey agreed it was “not acceptable”, and queried how a company spending €16m improving inter-city bus services could not reinstate a route to help people from a rural county access the hospital.
Cllrs Paddy Smith and Paddy O’Reilly (FG), the latter of whom described the current route as a “terrible mess of a situation”.