Don't dare take away our bus, Government warned

Revolution is in the air, they say, and if ever there was to be a modern Irish version of the Boston Tea Party, it might well happen in Rochfortbridge, over An Bord Snip Nua plans to cut rural transport schemes.Recently, Westmeath Rural Community Transport's weekly bus from Rochfortbridge to Mullingar arrived at Paddy O'Brien's garage on the Lynn Road.At first glance, there was certainly no sign of funding wastage. The bus, manned by popular driver Oliver Manning, was packed to the rafters with nearly two dozen passengers - all of them bound for the centre of Mullingar, where they would spend the rest of the morning chatting, shopping and sampling the Friday bustle."I can't imagine any Friday without the rural transport," Anne Byrne told the Westmeath Examiner, explaining that the bus service has catered to over thirty regular users for nearly three years.Rochfortbridge's Mary Arthur is a loyal patron of the bus service, and is vocal in her opposition to plans for cuts."The bus service will be going three years in October, and during that time we've had a very dependable driver in Oliver."He makes sure in hail, rain or snow that once a week, he goes house to house, and gets everyone to and from Mullingar."Everyone who uses this bus needs it. You get people in their 80s, their 70s and their 60s, and younger."Mary, whose son Colm is a member of Westmeath County Council, said that while this particular bus catered to people in Rochfortbridge and Milltownpass, such was the success of the rural transport scheme, that there was full demand for a separate bus in neighbouring Tyrrellspass."The man who put together the An Bord Snip Report lives in Dublin 4, and he has plenty of access to transport. Why shouldn't we?" she asked, adding that she had petitioned local patrons of the service, gathering their signatures to lobby local TDs and the Minister for Transport.One mention of the Minister brought a shout from the back of the bus."He could give up his chauffeur and leave the bus with us!"Westmeath Rural Community Transport has already started to make its case for avoiding the "snip", highlighting that its service is comprised of 32 routes, accommodating 46,000 passengers in 2008, with another 1,400 covered by the Community Car Scheme.Noel McCormack, the scheme manager, said that the McCarthy Report "ignores hidden savings made possible by the Rural Transport Programme" over the past six years."With the closure of local shops and post office in rural areas the need for rural transport is now vital for rural dwellers," he said. "Rural transport connects rural Ireland, and if this programme is axed it will hit hardest the most vulnerable people in our society."Knowing the benefits which the bus service has brought in his native Rochfortbridge, Cllr. Colm Arthur (Fine Gael) called on local Dáil deputies and senators to make sure that the rural transport programme is kept alive."If the McCarthy Report is a menu of options, then it's up to our local Dáil deputies to take it off the menu," he said."The bus from Rochfortbridge is always full. It gives people in the area great independence.People can say that they have their own way into town; they say that they don't want to be a burden on anybody."The An Bord Snip report looks after a certain type of city dweller. It's Dublin 4 economics, and it's mugging rural Ireland to pay for the mistakes of Fianna Fáil policy."Labour's Willie Penrose TD also called on the Government to think very carefully before cutting the Rural Transport Scheme."These services are vital to people residing in rural areas, and they provide services for the elderly and for many people who reside on their own or in isolated areas, and fulfil an important social need of enabling these people to attend hospital appointments, or conduct private business, or even attend certain events," he said."I further feel that the remit of the Scheme could be extended, so as to incorporate its use to enable people attend one off events.Currently rural transport scheme services have to have some form of a weekly schedule and be from point to point."I feel that there should be some flexibility on this and scheme administrators should be allowed to put in place day trips for the elderly and community groups where necessary," he said.