Sir, – Thank God for Emer McLysaght raising the debacle of public transport last weekend in our capital city trying to get home from CMAT in St Annes Park, Clontarf. (“Call me, CMAT. Let’s write a song about my public transport plight”, People, June 4th)
My wife and I, and two adult daughters were also at the CMAT concert and our two daughters had a very similar experience to Emer.
My wife and I managed to get to our home in the middle of Westmeath in two hours (by private coach and taxi – 100km away) at the same time as our daughters got to their accommodation in Stillorgan (13km away)!
However, Emer only referred to Dublin Bus missing in action. She missed to mention (as did most media) that the Dart was also out of service for the entire weekend. Essential track maintenance, on a holiday weekend – really?
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This is a scandalous contempt for all event goers (don’t forget Bloom, mini-marathon and other bank holiday events), tourists and the general public.
Where is the accountability for maintaining a public transport system on a summer bank holiday weekend?
It feels like the public has been gas-lighted into attending events that are not properly organised outside the boundaries of the event.
Where were the employees that should be running the services? The managers responsible for putting the staffing and schedules in place? The Government departments responsible for this service? And the print, radio and TV media for not raging on behalf of the public to this scandalous state of affairs. – Yours, etc,
NIALL O’GARA,
Tyrrellspass,
Co Westmeath.
Sir, – Emer McLysaght perfectly captures the contrast between the fantastic atmosphere at CMAT’s St Anne’s Park concert and the woeful public transport “plan” in place for its exit .
Getting to the concert was a doddle. Leaving en masse at 10.30pm with 20,000 others was a different story. After a 30-minute walk to the small Harmonstown Dart station and a 15-minute queue, fans arrived in the city centre only to find regular bus and rail services had finished, leaving just a skeletal night service. Taxis appeared to be banned from the vicinity of the concert and there was no organised rank.
To call it inconvenient is an understatement; to call it a safety hazard is accurate. The event passed off safely only because the crowd was good-natured.
Without extra Darts, a regular public bus shuttle service, a proper taxi plan, extended city-centre transit hours and an earlier finishing time, venues like St Anne’s Park and Marlay Park are simply unsuitable – and potentially dangerous – for large public gatherings. – Yours, etc,
SEAN KEAVNEY,
Castleknock.
Dublin 15.
