Cllrs left waiting on Bus Eireann to catch up with transport partners and attend meeting

Efforts by Meath Co Council to get a tripartite meeting going between councillors and representatives of the National Transport Authority, Irish Rail and Bus Eireann to discuss transport issues in the county is still missing one prong – Bus Eireann, a council meeting has been told.

Council Cathaoirleach Cllr Nick Killian said that while the NTA and Irish Rail had agreed to a meeting, there was still not word from Bus Eireann.

Fine Gael Cllr Sharon Tolan suggested the council schedule a meeting with the NTA and Irish Rail and “if Bus Eireann don’t turn up, they don’t turn up”. Cllr Noel French supported the suggestion.

Independent Cllr Gillian Toole said that herself and Cllr Mike Bray (FF) had pushed for this meeting last November. She said that it would be best if they scheduled the meeting, agree with NTA and Irish Rail and then present that to Bus Eireann. She said that there were serious bus transport issues in her own municipal district, and also issues with buses linking with train services and there was a multitude of issues to be dealt with. Cllr Tolan said the same issues existed in the Laytown/Bettystown area.

“I’ve argued since 2016 and walked the walk and talked the talk by going into Dublin to the offices of Transport for Ireland and NTA for meetings. We will only move things on if we have a tripartite meeting”, Cllr Toole said. She said they should set up the meeting with NTA and IR and then contact Bus Eireann but she said she would particularly like to see Bus Eireann at the table because they were particularly relevant to Ashbourne and Ratoath areas.

Martin Murray, Director of Services for Infrastructure said that NTA were happy to make a presentation to the council. He said he and another official would try to contact Bus Eireann on the matter. Fine Gael suggested that independent bus operators be invited to a meeting with the council. The Cathaoirleach said that the feeling among councillors was that they should stick to the State bodies for now.

Fianna Fail Cllr Damien O’Reilly said it would “muddy the waters too much” if the private operators were brought in. Perhaps the municipal districts could have separate meetings with the private operators, he said.