‘Lunacy’ of wheelchair users being let out at wrong bus stop

BUS passengers are being left at the wrong side of town, according to a councillor in Skibbereen.

Fine Gael Cllr Karen Coakley tabled a motion at a meeting of the West Cork Municipal District asking Bus Eireann to pick up and drop off passengers at the designated bus stop at North Street instead of making them walk back up town from the other designated bus stop at Market Street.

‘A lot of older people use this service,’ she said, ‘and some people who work at the courthouse at North Street find they are regularly late for work.’

She complained that passengers are being inconvenienced and that some people have to leave work early if they are to have any chance of catching the last bus home.

Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) pointed out that both wheelchair accessible stops were installed under a special grant scheme a couple of years ago.

‘But isn’t it lunacy,’ he asked, ‘to let a wheelchair user who has parked at North Street off in Market Street only to have them wheel themselves back to the bus stop? ‘In the past, the bus always stopped by the court house,’ he added, ‘people on that side of the town need a service.’

Senior executive engineer, John Ahern, explained that Bus Eireann had to change the terms of their licence to accommodate a temporary one-way system that went on trial at North Street during the summer months.

‘Bus Eireann is bound by the terms of its licence,’ said Mr Ahern, ‘but they are looking at all of their routes in Skibbereen to see if they can resolve the matter.’