RESIDENTS have called for the introduction of a bus service to improve transport links in Skibbereen for people with mobility issues.

Lorelie Rabbitt-Tomko (95) says elderly people and those with mobility issues would welcome the move, but that the whole community would benefit from a new bus service for the town.

She said she is currently relying on the kindness of neighbours to take her shopping and to appointments.

‘I feel like I don’t want to bother them and they get angry when I say that. I am very independent and spent my life not relying on anybody but me,’ said Mrs Rabbitt-Tomko, who worked as a secretary in Silicon Valley for many years.

‘We would need at least two buses to cover the town and to connect the different parts of Skibbereen. The council and business people could get together to help set it up. There could be small buses taking people from one end of town to the other and stopping in the town centre, for example in Field’s car park.’

She added: ‘I don’t think anybody thought about it because we are so used to putting up with what we have or don’t have.’

Lorelie said subsidised bus passes for the elderly could be an option for the council to explore, but that most people would not mind paying for a new addition to the local transport network.

‘If it needs funding from the public to keep it going, anybody would be happy to spend a couple of euros to get downtown and home again,’ she added.

The Washington State native came to Skibbereen from California 15 years ago and has since been involved in the community, also opposing plans for a plastic factory that were binned in 2019 after large opposition.

‘Skibbereen is wonderful and I just love it. Everybody is so very friendly and kind,’ Mrs Rabbitt-Tomko said.

Cllr Brendan McCarthy (FG) said he can see the benefits of such a service like and in other towns including Clonakilty or Bantry.

‘We can see it in the success of the Local Link buses taking people for example from Union Hall to Skibbereen. That did not exist two years ago. At the moment there is no bus taking people living on the edges of Skibbereen into the town but it’s definitely something worth looking into,’ he said.

A spokesperson for Cork County Council said the provision of bus services is not the responsibility of the local authority but of the NTA (National Transport Authority).

‘The NTA implemented the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan, a major initiative to enhance connectivity, particularly for those living outside major towns and cities.

‘Under the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan, over 180 new or enhanced bus services were added to the TFI Network nationally including the Local Link (Skibereen to Mizen Head) in 2024 and Bus Eireann Route 237 (Cork to Goleen via Skibbereen) in 2025.

‘Cork County Council receives grant funding for the delivery of sustainable travel initiatives in the County, including in Skibbereen, where two safe routes to schools projects were successfully delivered in 2025 for the benefit of schoolchildren in the town.’