Press Releases
O’Malley calls for Dart closure to be lifted
Fiona O’Malley, Progressive Democrats TD for Dun Laoghire, is calling on CIE not to suspend weekend Dart services while the Festival of World Cultures takes place.
Deputy O’Malley says ‘suspending the Dart while the festival is running will seriously inconvenience anyone wishing to attend or partake in the festival and will prove very damaging to the whole event.’
Last month Deputy O’Malley took CIE chiefs to task over the suspending the Southside Dart service at weekends for the second time in eighteen months. ‘I think the attitude displayed by CIE management to the travelling public has been cavalier in the extreme. Little public notice was given, and neither have assurances been forthcoming that the service wouldn’t be suspended again at some stage in the future.’
Deputy O’Malley used the appearance of the CIE chiefs before the Oireachtas Transport Committee in June to criticise their actions. At the time, she also raised the issue of the Festival of World Cultures and requested that the Dart suspension be lifted in order to accommodate the event.
‘This is an extremely important tourist event, attracting 160,000 visitors last year. The organisers are right when they claim visitor numbers will be severely affected this year if the Dart service is suspended. People will be far less likely to travel to Dun Laoghaire by bus and the festival will suffer as a result.’
‘Southside Dart users have been forced to suffer a second suspension of services throughout the summer, despite initial promises by CIE to the contrary. This is an important festival and I would appeal to CIE management to reopen the Dart on that particular weekend.’
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