Dublin Bus service suspension: ‘It’s very isolating for the community. They essentially have a curfew for public transport’

Sean Walsh doesn’t drive and instead gets buses everywhere. To the shops. To meet friends. To go out in town.

Now that Dublin Bus won’t be serving some housing estates in West Tallaght after 6pm due to antisocial behaviour, the Jobstown native will have at least a 25-minute walk home in the evenings, though he could reduce it down to 15 minutes “if I walk fast”.

The decision to stop evening bus routes was frustrating, he said, but he’s surprised it didn’t happen sooner.

“Sometimes you’d be coming home and the bus would just be cancelled because of antisocial behaviour,” the 29-year-old said.

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“People are throwing sticks at the bus, causing trouble trying to get on the bus. It’s for the safety of the bus drivers as well as the passengers.”

As of Thursday, Dublin Bus has indefinitely suspended evening services for parts of Tallaght after representative unions raised concerns about the safety of drivers.

[ Dublin Bus services to west Tallaght suspended after woman driver ‘terrorised’ by ‘mob’ ]

Last month, drivers reported 35 incidents of violence, attacks, vandalism, threats with knives and one incident in which a woman driver was “terrorised by a huge mob”.

Initially, the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) and Siptu stated routes 27, 65B and 77A would terminate at the Square Tallaght until further notice.

However, a spokesman for Dublin Bus said that following discussions between the transport provider, trade unions and other stakeholders including An Garda Síochána, it had been agreed that rather than terminating at The Square, the routes will now follow the “usual and agreed antisocial behaviour protocol” from 6pm every evening.

Route 27, to and from Jobstown, will now terminate at Fortunestown Road, no longer serving Cheeverstown Road, Brookfield Road and Russell Square in the evenings.

Route 56A will not service Cheeverstown Road, Cookstown Road or Fettercairn; Route 65B to Firhouse Road West will not serve Killinarden Heights and route 77A will not serve Whitestown Drive and Killinarden Heights.

The two unions sent a letter to Dublin Bus on Thursday, stating West Tallaght was one of a few known “hot spots” for antisocial behaviour and has been the subject of stakeholder engagement for more than a quarter of a century.

The letter states that levels of “thuggery, violence and vandalism” is “once again reaching epidemic proportions”.

“It is not tenable for bus drivers to risk life and limb, driving buses into estates in West Tallaght, to be attacked and assaulted, and the supposed protocols that should kick in when attacks take place have been ignored too many times,” it added.

Local residents are all too familiar with that antisocial behaviour. A 59-year-old man who lives near Fettercairn said he recently witnessed a group of children using a hammer for emergency break glass on the windows of a bus in recent weeks.

[ Ryan seeks meeting with Dublin Bus over ‘disappearing’ buses ]

Jobstown resident Marian Gannon said brick-throwing was a common issue. “They throw bricks at the junction down there near Fettercairn. They stand at the gap [in the wall] and they throw it. It’s the same place, the same kids and the same times all the time.”

The issue of reduced evening public transport provision would most significantly affect women, older people and parents of young children, residents said.

Mother of five Nadine Comerford (29) said she brings one of her daughters to football in Killinarden twice a week, which takes place from 5pm until 6pm.

“When we’re coming back now there’s no bus. We’ll have to walk now, and it’s about 35 minutes from my house to Killinarden. It’s either we do that walk or she doesn’t get to go to football,” she added.

One mother said: “I only finish work at 5.30. How am I supposed to get home after that, or if I get delayed?”

Laura Gaskell, a West Tallaght resident who is involved with the Jobstown Community Centre, said the decision was “very disappointing” for the local community.

“It’s very isolating for the community. They essentially have a curfew for access to public transport,” she said.

“At the same time, we do understand that drivers and passengers can’t be harmed. I don’t think more guards, or plain-clothes gardaí are the answer. I think there’s a duty for Dublin Bus to get down to the community and have a talk, so everyone can voice their concerns and find solutions.”

Killinarden Community Council said antisocial behaviour and violent incidents increased over the month of December, but the council said there was “a huge dependency on public transport by people in West Tallaght”.

The issue of high dependency was echoed by local People Before Profit/Solidarity TD Paul Murphy, who said the “rates of car ownership would be quite low relative to the rest of the country”.

“People are annoyed at the antisocial behaviour,” he added. “This is an ongoing issue of buses, in particular, being targeted by a small group of people. The vast, vast majority of the community behaves appropriately.”

The decision to suspend evening services has the biggest impact on the most disadvantaged communities who rely on public transport to get to and from work or education, according to Cecil Johnston, chairman of Killinarden council.

“I obviously condemn any sort of antisocial behaviour, whether that’s towards bus drivers or anyone else, but to cut off whole communities is very unhelpful,” he said.

Mr Johnston said locals felt they were being punished for the actions of a minority, adding that educating young people through schools and youth programmes would be important in reducing this antisocial behaviour.

“Education goes a long way,” he added.

Cllr Kieran Mahon, a solidarity and Socialist Party representative in Tallaght, said while there was frustration, most people he had encountered were quite supportive of the drivers’ decision. “We all know that the safety of workers and passengers is paramount.”

He said the issues arising on public transport were “a little bit like the canary in a coal mine. It’s a microcosm, and reflective of issues in a community but it shouldn’t be on public transport workers to police that.”