There have been demands for more public transport on the Saint Patrick’s Day bank holiday weekend to help people get home quickly and safely.
Fine Gael TD, Neale Richmond wrote to Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan and CEO of the National Transport Authority, Anne Graham asking to extend public transport service schedules in Dublin over the course of the long weekend from Thursday 17 March for both the Luas and Dublin Bus.
The Dublin Rathdown TD told Dublin Live: “Saint Patrick’s Day is always one of the busiest days of the year in terms of late night revelry.
"We hadn’t had a Saint Patrick’s Day in two years so it’s going to be even bigger this year and it’s going to be a double bank holiday.
“But one of the biggest issues we’ve seen in recent weeks and months is the issue of late night transport. A lot of people got out of the taxi industry during the pandemic or else they haven’t fully returned to it, there is a scarcity of taxis in the city centre.
“The Nitelink has only just resumed recently and the Luas stops at its regular time. We're in a situation where more people are going to pubs, restaurants and theatres like they were before but the transport levels are coming back slowly.”
Mr Richmond is worried that people won’t be able to get home during the March bank holiday weekend because walking home “is not realistic” in certain situations.
He added: “My major concern is that over a two week day holiday, a four day weekend that we’re not going to have the adequate public transport provisions and so many people will particularly get stuck in Dublin City Centre.
“I know of people who have waited up to an hour and 15 minutes for taxis in the city centre after midnight on Saturday, it’s not somewhere you want to be hanging out for too long or the prospect of having to walk from town to Sandyford or the other side of Malahide, it’s not realistic either.”
Deputy Richmond expects St Patrick's Day Weekend to be especially busy after it was cancelled for the past two years due to the Covid pandemic.
He is asking that Luas hours be extended to 3:30am like it has been previously done for Christmas and the New Year, as well as having an extended Dublin Bus Service schedule for areas that are not serviced by the Luas.
He continued: “It’s much safer, at Christmas time before the pandemic, the midnight Luas was always jammed and people took advantage of them.
“It was an easy, quick and safe way to get home from the city centre. Particularly when there was so much pressure on taxis, it’s a no-brainer.
“We know that in a few weeks time, we will have a major public holiday and it’s the first big one since the pandemic began. We have to make sure that people get home safely and quickly.”
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