Latest news with #DaraMulvey
Irish Independent
17-07-2025
- Irish Independent
Frustration as elderly woman left stranded as Sligo- Dublin Airport bus fails to stop in village
The elderly woman subsequently had to call a friend to drive her to the airport so that she did not miss her flight to go on holidays. Cllr Dara Mulvey said he was recently contacted by the irate elderly passenger who had booked and paid for a Bus Éireann ticket on the Sligo to Dublin route 23 to bring them to Dublin Airport for a holiday flight. Cllr Mulvey said: 'This bus is on the timetable to stop at 1.31am in Castlebaldwin village [Opp Morrisons Grocery] in a designated bus pick up-drop off zone just off the main N4 road. 'An elderly lady had driven to this designated stop on the morning of June 27 at 1.15am in plenty of time and parked up waiting for the bus to collect her. 'But to her dismay, she saw the bus drive through the roundabout along the N4, continuing towards Dublin but never entering Castlebaldwin village to pick up passengers. 'This passenger had to ring a friend who got out of bed to drive her to Dublin Airport that night or her holiday would have been lost. 'People just want to be able to get to the airport on time when they book a ticket online and they expect to be picked up at a designated stop. We are all encouraged to take public transport but is the service reliable for most people who depend on it or is it leaving passengers standing on the side of the road?,' Cllr Mulvey asked. 'Hopefully this will not re occur and affect other people,' he added. Bus Éireann were contacted for comment. They said: 'We have reviewed the available booking data for the Expressway Route 23 service on the date in question. There were no advance bookings made from Castlebaldwin for this particular service, and the bus was marked as full on the booking engine prior to reaching that stop — indicating that capacity had been reached earlier on the route. 'In accordance with safety regulations and licensing conditions, our drivers are not permitted to board additional passengers once a vehicle has reached its maximum seating capacity. 'While we have not received a direct complaint regarding this incident, we strongly encourage any affected customer to contact our Customer Care team through our official feedback channels. This allows us to investigate individual cases thoroughly and provide appropriate follow-up and support. 'To avoid capacity-related issues — particularly on late-night or high-demand services — we continue to advise customers to pre-book their journeys in advance to guarantee a seat on Expressway services. 'Bus Éireann remains committed to providing safe, reliable, and accessible transport for all of our passengers.'
Irish Independent
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Independent
No traffic calming for Sligo village that sees 50,000 vehicles a week pass through it
However, the stretch of the N17 through Ballinacarrow village has not been identified as a high collision location and will not receive any further traffic calming measures in addition to what was carried out some years ago. Residents says speeding traffic is a daily occurrence despite the fact that Go Safe vans are regularly assigned to the village which is in a 50 kph zone The issue was raised at a Municipal District meeting of Sligo County Council by Councillor Dara Mulvey who sought an update from the TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) on speed reductions needed at Ballinacarrow. Cllr Mulvey said other towns along the N17 and N4 have more traffic calming measures in place yet Ballinacarrow was not getting adequate help. 'There are well over 50k vehicles on this road weekly . This village has a national school on the opposite side of the road to where three housing estates are located and parents and children are not happy to cross a national primary road due to speeding vehicles. 'A speed survey carried out by the pupils found that 98 out of 175 drivers were speeding. TII needs to put resources into Ballinacarrow before something catastrophic happens,' stated Cllr Mulvey. Sligo County Council said that through the Sligo Regional Design Office it was currently advancing a number of Road Safety Improvement Schemes along the national roads in the county. These Schemes are funded by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). Locations of Road Safety Improvement Schemes are identified by analysing collision history (to identify high collision locations) and through road safety inspections (which highlight road safety issues) completed on behalf of Transport Infrastructure Ireland by road safety experts. Prioritisation is given to high-collision locations when advancing Road Safety Improvement Schemes, while areas with identified safety issues are considered secondary. The stretch of the N17 through Ballinacarrow village has not been identified as a high collision location in the two most recent analyses (2018-2020 and 2020-2022). Additionally, no issues related to traffic calming have been flagged at this location through TII road safety inspection process. ADVERTISEMENT Learn more Sligo Regional Design Office currently has a full programme of Road Safety Improvement Schemes planned for 2025. It is important to note that a Road Safety Improvement Scheme was conducted in 2024 at the local road (L6108) / N17 junction in Ballinacarrow. Following a 'Section 38 public consultation' for that scheme, Sligo Regional Design Office applied to TII for an Active Travel/Traffic Calming scheme for Ballinacarrow; however, that application was unsuccessful, and no funding was provided through TII's 2025 allocations. "The location can be considered in the review of Road Safety Improvement Schemes for 2026, in discussions with the TII Regional Road Safety Inspection Engineer. However, there is no guarantee that a scheme at this location will be funded or prioritized, as high-collision locations and areas with identified issues from (TII led) road safety inspections to take precedence.'
Irish Independent
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Independent
No new traffic calming measures for County Sligo village that sees 50,000 vehicles a week pass through it
However, the stretch of the N17 through Ballinacarrow village has not been identified as a high collision location and will not receive any further traffic calming measures in addition to what was carried out some years ago. Residents says speeding traffic is a daily occurrence despite the fact that Go Safe vans are regularly assigned to the village which is in a 50 kph zone The issue was raised at a Municipal District meeting of Sligo County Council by Councillor Dara Mulvey who sought an update from the TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) on speed reductions needed at Ballinacarrow. Cllr Mulvey said other towns along the N17 and N4 have more traffic calming measures in place yet Ballinacarrow was not getting adequate help. 'There are well over 50k vehicles on this road weekly . This village has a national school on the opposite side of the road to where three housing estates are located and parents and children are not happy to cross a national primary road due to speeding vehicles. 'A speed survey carried out by the pupils found that 98 out of 175 drivers were speeding. TII needs to put resources into Ballinacarrow before something catastrophic happens,' stated Cllr Mulvey. Sligo County Council said that through the Sligo Regional Design Office it was currently advancing a number of Road Safety Improvement Schemes along the national roads in the county. These Schemes are funded by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). Locations of Road Safety Improvement Schemes are identified by analysing collision history (to identify high collision locations) and through road safety inspections (which highlight road safety issues) completed on behalf of Transport Infrastructure Ireland by road safety experts. Prioritisation is given to high-collision locations when advancing Road Safety Improvement Schemes, while areas with identified safety issues are considered secondary. The stretch of the N17 through Ballinacarrow village has not been identified as a high collision location in the two most recent analyses (2018-2020 and 2020-2022). Additionally, no issues related to traffic calming have been flagged at this location through TII road safety inspection process. Sligo Regional Design Office currently has a full programme of Road Safety Improvement Schemes planned for 2025. It is important to note that a Road Safety Improvement Scheme was conducted in 2024 at the local road (L6108) / N17 junction in Ballinacarrow. Following a 'Section 38 public consultation' for that scheme, Sligo Regional Design Office applied to TII for an Active Travel/Traffic Calming scheme for Ballinacarrow; however, that application was unsuccessful, and no funding was provided through TII's 2025 allocations. "The location can be considered in the review of Road Safety Improvement Schemes for 2026, in discussions with the TII Regional Road Safety Inspection Engineer. However, there is no guarantee that a scheme at this location will be funded or prioritized, as high-collision locations and areas with identified issues from (TII led) road safety inspections to take precedence.'
