Hospital worry
Pensioner Mark Rodgers from Drimnagh has been campaigning to save the 122 bus route which is being scrapped and the 123 which is being replaced by the old 22 route. Crumlin and Drimnagh will be greatly impacted by the proposals with changes to the 77A (also being scrapped), the 151, 27, 17, 18 and 56A. The 69-year-old recently led a protest march to a local NTA meeting and handed in a petition with 1,000 signatures. ‘The Bus Connects proposals will affect me terribly. I’m currently attending three hospitals — St James’, Cappagh and Beaumont. According to Jarrett Walker’s plans I won’t be able to get to any of them by bus. I had two hip replacements and one now needs to be re-done. I can’t walk far, I can’t afford to take taxis and routes that currently take me to the hospitals will be scrapped, most notably the 123 which currently goes through the grounds of St James’ Hospital. I’ll be left relying on lifts to get to appointments. Incredibly, we’ll be left with no direct access to O’Connell Street in the centre of town or to Synge Street. This is a big loss because a lot of children from our area go to Synge Street school. Buses are being re-routed away from the Coombe which will make it difficult for mums-to-be attending the hospital.
‘The biggest impact will be on housing estates in Crumlin, Drimnagh and Walkinstown where there are a lot of older people but most importantly, Luas trams will be packed solid during peak hours. Red line stations haven’t been extended to take longer trams so we’ll be stuck with smaller ones. It’s going to be one hell of a mess.
I guess the NTA will tell me take a Luas to town then a bus to Beaumont hospital. The only problem is that the 27A, which serves Beaumont, is being changed.
It’s an absolute mess and the guy who caused it, Jarrett Walker, hasn’t a bloody clue.
What we need now is people power.
The OAPs protested over medical cards, we can do it again to save our bus service.