It Occurs to Me: Bus travel getting more farcical by the week

I’m blue in the face over the years when it comes to complaining about bus travel.

Over a month ago, the Galway-Sligo-Derry Expressway was almost an hour late by the time it landed in Donegal and almost two hours by the time Derry was reached! Yes, roadworks don’t help but it took over 30 minutes to get from the Dry Arch in Letterkenny to the Bus Depot and back. Waiting in Derry one day to get the bus to Donegal, not only did it arrive late, but the driver informed us that he was entitled to a 45 minute break, which ensured another late departure, compounded by an engine fault which meant a 20 minutes check and further delay in the Stranorlar depot.

It took a Cavan TD to highlight another Expressway problem in the Dail recently. Sinn Féin TD for Cavan-Monaghan Pauline Tully pointed out that the X30/30 from Busaras to Donegal Town - via the airport- was an hour and a half late.

“It is just not an efficient service and it needs to be addressed. One couple, who divide their time between Britain and Ireland, contacted me. They have been using the bus service to the airport approximately once a month over the last three years and not once has the bus come on time,” Deputy Tully said. It is consistently late, anything from 30 minutes to an hour. We are not talking about five or ten minutes, nobody would mind that. We know that buses can get held up.”

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She added that the last time that the couple went to get the bus it was 50 minutes late and then the driver said he needed to take 30 minutes to have his break.

“Everyone is deserving of a break but that should be factored into the bus timetable,” she said. “It should not affect the bus. The bus therefore was almost an hour and a half late.”

With an election coming up, can we ensure that our own TD’s make a priority of this issue? And I just don’t mean empty pre-election promises.

More important, if - as Pauline Tully experienced - Eamon Ryan’s response comprises the Yawn Factor, i.e: “I understand that Bus Éireann is on track to roll out the new, improved timetable, which will increase the frequency of services at certain stops along route 30, in the coming months…Additionally, Bus Éireann have made adjustments to create a more realistic and dynamic timetable, which the company believes will benefit customers”, feel free to beat him soundly over the head with an organic head of lettuce.

CLOGH: AN EXAMPLE FOR US ALL

What does a small village of some 500 souls in Kilkenny have in common with the travails of many Donegal villages and towns who have lost hotels, restaurants and pubs in the past few years?

The story of Clogh is a wonderfully life-affirming story that I heard first hand from businessman John Doyle last week, when he gave me a blow-by-blow account of how the community saved the last public house in the village. But before I tell his amazing story, readers may be interested to know of the connections between north Kilkenny and west Donegal. I have written here before of the men who went to labour in the coal mines of north-eastern Pennsylvania, and of the fate of six men with Ardara/Glenties/The Rosses/Gweedore connections who were some of the twenty hanged as Molly Maguires after a series of ‘show trials’ between 1877-1879.

One 22-year old who died on the scaffold was Edward Kelly, the son of immigrants from Kilkenny. Of the thousands who fled Ireland during the great famine of 1845-1849, most were financially and physically devastated, and coming from backgrounds as laborers or farmers, were ill equipped for work in the mines. Hailing largely from Counties Donegal and Mayo, the famine-era Irish were more likely to live in the small communities called ‘patches’ rather than towns, and more likely to work as labourers than skilled miners.

In contrast, the majority of those who arrived prior to the famine came from the less-impoverished southern and eastern counties, particularly Laois and Kilkenny. Like the Welsh and English, many Kilkenny men were already experienced at working in coal mines on which they could draw in America. The famine in these counties, when it struck, was less severe than in northern and western Ireland, and even at the height of famine in the winter of 1846-47, Kilkenny benefited from outdoor relief provided by the Guardians of the Kilkenny Poor Law Union. Unlike in other counties, and in defiance of the Relief Commissioners, the resident gentry in Kilkenny actively promoted relief efforts.

As a result, many Kilkenny emigrants arrived in Pennsylvania in better financial and physical condition than their compatriots and were able to build on previous experience to improve their lot. Like their Welsh and English counterparts, many Kilkenny men were able to obtain work in the most highly-paid skilled and supervisory positions. They referred to the ‘northerners’ as ‘The Far Downs’.

An old friend from Castlecomer, now living in Clogh, Willie Joe Meally, introduced me to the incredible history of mining back in the early 90’s. His father had started mining locally in 1924 and his maternal uncles were all miners. Many Meallys had already crossed the ocean to the Pennsylvania coal mines in the previous century. In 1995, Willie Joe observed: “Workers had hard cash, farmers had property but no cash. At times, they (the farmers) may have been hungry, not able to afford meat, but there was a snobbery or pride in the land, even though the whole economy depended on the mines. Dirty pound notes supported the shopkeepers.” Another local added: “They had nothing but still looked down on us.”

WHERE THE FOUR COUNTIES MEET…ALMOST!
Clogh is on the R426 road near Castlecomer. The village is 27 km north of Kilkenny city, 16 km from Carlow town, 25 km from Portlaoise, and 20 km from Athy to the north. As John Doyle explained to me, when Clogh was the venue for the County Fleadh back in 2002, the village had five shops and five pubs. The last shop, run by the Wilson family, closed in April after 47 years.

The last pub, however, was not only a different story but a great example of how a determined community can ensure that at least one social hub remains before the heart is totally torn out of a rural hamlet. Before Covid struck, the last remaining public house - Kavanaghs, previously a thatched pub called Cantwell’s - closed its doors in common with thousands throughout Ireland during the pandemic.

John Doyle was determined that Clogh was not going to end up ‘a Covid village’, with the lockdown being the determining factor for certain premises not to reopen. As he told me: “It wasn’t the drinking element that was the priority. We needed a social centre, a hub for the locals.” He checked with the auctioneer and found out that Kavanaghs were looking for €200,000 but were selling as a residential going concern. He hurriedly met up with four other local business people and before their meeting was over, they had pledged some €80,000, still way short of the asking price. A public meeting was organised with some 40/50 people and that increased the commitment to around €130,000. It was agreed that shares would be sold for €5000, although they were reduced in time to €2500. Thanks to Facebook and the internet, offers came from as far as the US and Singapore, and suddenly the sum had increased to €160,000.

Within seven or eight weeks, John’s resolution had ensured that some €195,00 had been pledged but the auctioneer advised him that four buyers had pledged €160,000 for the premises and €40,000 for the pub license (which they would sell on) and that he was still €5000 short. He had a brainwave…he rang the four potential buyers and offered them shares. Two said no but two pledged €5000. He had the magic number! 66 shareholders now owned The Village Bar which opened on July 11th, 2022.

John is Chairman and is chuffed that locals now have a place to go to after funerals and weddings, a venue for pool and card playing, and music seisiúns. The pool table was bought for €1400, a sum given by someone who couldn’t afford the full share price…another person could only contribute €200 so her name is on a chair in the pub. It also sponsors a local hurling team and John’s dream of a ‘social’ hub has come to fruition. It is an inspiring story and in the wake of closures throughout Donegal of late, it really grabbed my attention. I can’t wait to visit in the New Year…good hurlin’ lads!