FIANNA Fáil councillor Catherine Slattery has called on the Council to write to the National Transport Authority (NTA) requesting that a bus service be provided for the Ballysheedy area.
Speaking at November’s Metropolitan District meeting, the City East representative pointed out to Council management that numerous bus services for parishes in the vicinity exist. Ballysheedy, she said, is heavily populated with no bus service.
“The NTA are forgetting elderly people in rural areas and we need to highlight this matter. Ballysheedy is a built up area with a large population and they need a bus service, even if a reduced pilot scheme could be introduced to establish the need for a bus service in the area,” Cllr Slattery suggested.
Fine Gael councillor Sarah Kiely supported the motion and took the view that a Local Link bus service would work really well in the Ballysheedy area. She said it was “imperative” that the NTA start engagement straight away and instructs Local Link to provide a service.
“They obviously have an ageing population in Ballysheedy and the surrounding areas as well. There’s no reason whatsoever that we can’t encourage people to leave their cars at home and get on the bus. It’s literally a stone’s throw from the city,” Cllr Kiely opined.
Social Democrats councillor Shane Hickey-O’Mara also deemed it important that older residents and those with mobility issues have access to a proper bus service.
“Why they don’t have one already is beyond me,” he hit out.