Every bus stop in Laois should have a bus shelter

Every bus stop should have a shelter, a meeting of Portarlington Graiguecullen Municipal District was told.   

Sinn Fein Cllr Aidan Mullins asked in a motion “that Laois County Council arrange for a bus shelter/s to be installed in Portarlington.”

“To me, for me to even have to put down a notice of motion for a bus shelter, you would think we were living in a third world country. Every bus stop in Ireland should have a bus shelter,” he insisted. 

Cllr Mullins said bus stops were just “a few steel uprights and a bit of canopy” and don’t need to be costly.  

In response to his motion, Senior Executive Engineer, Diarmuid Donohue wrote:  “Laois County Council is liaising with the NTA regarding the upgrade of bus stops across the county. There are a number of bus stop locations in Portarlington, and the Council will work with the NTA to agree the appropriate treatment at each one.”  

“I think it is a joke that the NTA(National Transport Authority)  are taking so long, that they have to be convinced or persuaded to put them in,” he continued. 

He said it was no wonder people opted to drive instead of waiting in the rain and cold without any shelter. 

“We have the Green Party and Eamon Ryan trying to convince people to use public transport, and rightly so, but we have to have the facilities in place,” he said. 

Describing bus shelters as basic infrastructure for the public transport system, Cllr Mullins said “madness” that a motion had to be put down seeking a shelter. 

He noted two new shelters had been put in place in Portlaoise. While welcoming the introduction of new shelters, he questioned the cost although he didn’t say how much money had been spent on the shelters.

“It can’t be that expensive to put up a bus shelter,” he said. 

“They can only cater for four people sitting down and none standing,” he claimed. 

Fine Gael Cllr PJ McKelly said there are no bus shelters in Portarlington even though the stops are well used. 

He described the bus stops in Portlaoise as “extravagant” and questioned the amount of work that went into them. 

He said the wide footpaths in Portarlington would easily facilitate a bus stop “without any extras” attached. 

Fianna Fail’s Padraig Fleming said bus shelters should be simply made. 

“They should be everywhere that there is a need,” he added.