Locals had concerns before crash

Crash scene: Safety bollards used along Aston and Wellington Quays to stop vehicles mounting the kerb are not in place at the site of the Wellington Quay bus tragedy.

Local business people said the lack of safety barriers on the pavement, the use of the bus lane for parking and the recently narrowed roadway along the quays are among safety concerns brought to the attention of Dublin City Council and the gardaí prior to the bus crash at the weekend.

Ms Betty Swan of Temple Bar Opticians, at the corner of Wellington Quay and Fownes Street, said safety bollards positioned outside her shop have prevented a number of accidents.

"They put these black metal pillars into the path about a year ago, and a few vehicles have hit them all right, but they can't go up on the kerb. But further down the road, to where the crash was, they just stop and I can't understand why they don't have them the whole way when there's always huge crowds of people standing on the path waiting for buses."

Before the bollards were erected the optician's sign had been knocked from the wall several times by lorries mounting the path, which, Ms Swan said, is constantly crowded with pedestrians waiting for buses.

Ms Ann Walsh, manager of the Aston Hotel, said she contacted the garda at Pearse Street just last week to complain about buses using the bus lane to park, but was told they were entitled to do so.

"I saw it reported in the papers that Aston Quay is a three-lane street, but it's not. The bus lane outside my window is only used by buses as a parking lot."

A spokeswoman for Dublin City Council said the pathway at Aston Quay, which had been widened, was narrowed again last year following the death of a cyclist. The safety bollards were to keep people from walking out into traffic rather than to stop vehicles mounting the kerb, she said.