Julianstown must be included in Connecting Ireland Plan says local businessman

A Julianstown businessman has revealed that he is restricted from employing young people from local towns as a result of poor public transport saying the village is being "isolated" under the current plan.

Tom Carson, owner of the The Limekiln Gastropub has called on National Transport Authority and Bus Eireann to include the village of Julianstown in their Connecting Ireland Plan.

The Plan will deliver routes all across the country connecting rural towns and villages to local larger towns and services and has already delivered new improved services all around Navan town which has experienced exponential growth.

Speaking at a meeting with local councillor Sharon Tolan Carson said:

“As a business owner I am restricted from employing young people from local towns like Laytown and Bettystown because they have no reliable public transport links to Julianstown to get to work, as well as patrons from East Meath who would prefer to leave the car at home and enjoy a meal and a drink locally and use a bus service for getting here and back home safely.

"The people of Julianstown are being isolated with the current plan, there is no safe foot path or cycle lane to use, so public transport is the only option for many. More and more people want to use public transport but there just isn’t enough services for everyone to be able to do that. ”

Cllr Tolan highlighted the importance of including the East Meath village in the transport plan.

“It is absolutely crucial that Bus Eireann and the NTA take action on this issue sooner rather than later. We have a growing population in Julianstown who want to leave the car at home and use public transport for connectivity to the local towns in East Meath like Bettystown and Laytown for medical appointments, shopping, beach visits, Golf club and of course access to the train station.

"If we are really serious about getting people out of their cars and using public transport, we must provide the services to everyone in rural towns and villages too. We need to ensure that our younger generations also have access to efficient and reliable public transport for daily uses to encourage less reliance on cars into the future. Teaching our young people about independent public transport travel is essential for the future.”

To support the call for a bus service for Julianstown the public should email connectingireland@nationaltransport.ie