As Summer Season Kicks Off - Public Urged To Use Public Transport

Minister of State today urged everyone travelling during the June Bank Holiday to use public transport as much as possible, particularly if attending weekend festivals, sporting events or enjoying the outdoors.

This long weekend, Ireland’s festival programme gets into full swing with many large-scale events happening all over the country. The Bloom Garden Festival will take place in the Phoenix Park in Dublin, The Cat Laughs Comedy Festival takes place in Kilkenny and the Listowel Writer’s Week will take place in Kerry. The Flora Womens Mini Marathon will also take place in Dublin today. These popular events, which overlap with the June bank holiday, mean that lots of people will be on the move this weekend.

Minister Alan Kelly said: “I would encourage people to utilise public transport as much as possible. Getting a bus, train or the Luas if you are travelling to a festival, attending a sporting event or just travelling home, can take the hassle out of journeys. It saves on parking, journey-time and is a cost effective, environmentally friendly way to get around. There may be some changes to services on today due to the Mini-marathon in Dublin.”

The Minister concluded: “In recent weeks my colleagues (Ministers Varadkar and Ring) and I launched a major domestic tourism package including the €1 million Discover Ireland Summer 2011 promotion campaign and discounts of up to 50% for weekend rail travel.

Timetables and schedules that reflect public demand, and fares that make rail and bus transport the sensible option and are not only good news for public transport users, they good news for holidaymakers too.”

(BMcN/GK)