Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan is literally about how we connect our towns all across Ireland. I ran a campaign on this last year to encourage submissions to the Department of Transport around the plan.One of the options being considered related to a route from Castlerea, through Mountbellew, to Ballinasloe, and I am delighted to welcome that route. We encouraged submissions from people living in all those areas because it was crucial we connected our hospitals, universities and university campuses. The route follows the River Suck, from Castlerea, through Williamstown, Glenamaddy, Mountbellew and Ahascragh to Ballinasloe. It goes from the Suck Valley Way through each of those areas to the River Suck in Ballinasloe. In Castlerea, for example, as I mentioned, there is great tourism potential, such as through Clonalis House and the Night and Day festival that was run last summer. Now, people will have the option to travel on three bus routes every day. It is crucial also because it is travelling through Mountbellew, the site of the brand new Atlantic Technological University campus and where the agricultural college is based. Moreover, for many families and people living in the area, it is also about connecting to the train station in Ballinasloe and to Portiuncula University Hospital. Many of these people, earlier during Covid and throughout the lockdowns, had no way, apart from private taxis, of getting to medical appointments in the hospital.

This is a fantastic new transport service that we are going to see in the Roscommon-Galway area and it is really smart thinking, but I would love to see a few more route options. The frequency is currently three services a day but options are limited in the evenings. It is welcome and I urge everyone living in the areas to support our bus services.