Guth & Tuairim, Féabhra 1980

lml. 1 Uimh. 11 D The Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway Co. Limited commenced its bus service in County Donegal in 1931, and the first buses came as tar as Gort a 1 Choirce. Later, they extended their operations to Burtonport, but because of complaints that they were tearing .up the roads they had to withdraw that s~rvice and it was after the war when they again went on to Burtonport and Dungloe. Since the Railway closed down in August 1953 we have been dependant on the Lough Swilly Buses tor public transport. · With an increase in fares ot 20% 'from last Monday (4th), the future of the yompany must Feabhra, 1980 ILLY 'lllllllllllllllllllllllt guttlrtuairim 1111111111111111111111111 DONEGAL OIL CO. POETRY COMPE.TlTION '!he first ever "Guth 7 Tuairim"/Donegal Oil Co, Poetry Competition was a great success and out of an entry of over lOO the Judges selected the fo llowing: Gaeilge lu ait: Duais £20, "Amharc Orm", le Seosamh Antaine 0 Gallchoir, Rang JBC, Pobal Scoil Ghaoth Dobhair. be very doubtful. The single fare from Dungloe to Derry now costs £4.44 and the return £4.66. When I contacted their Derry head-office last week· a Mr. McDevitt told me that the increases were inevitable, that the Company had been losing hea vily in the last few years. He said there had been a massive increase in the price of oil since 1973 but that fares hadn't increased accordingly. They could not go on losing indefinitely and unless Government aid was forthcoming they would eventually have to close down their bus service. .2U a"it. Duais £5, "Na Paist{ agus an Papa (1979), le Br{d Anna N{ Bhaoill, Rann na Feirste. English 1st prize £20, "1'vening Dull" by Christopher Boyd, Bunbeg. 2ndprize £5, was a tie between "Snow", by Noelle Smullen, Baltoney, GO,rtahork a nd "Spiders" by Eoghan l'iac Giolla Bhr{de, Ard na gCeapai r e, Doire Beaga , In the months ahea d we will publish the wi nning poems d.lld also some of the other entries, Tamuid i ontach broduil as'ibh uilig a chuir filfocht c hu,.;il i nrc , f.gus There is no doubt that the public are very, very unhappy about the transport situation at present. People have complained to this paper that the Buses are old and uncomfortable, that they have no heating, that fares are far too expensive and that the service is totally inadequate. While I did not query Mr. McDevit fiu muna bhain tu ar iarraidh seo, c oi nr. igh ag scri'obh, l;;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~·~~il;lnnM~IIIIIiffnllnffillffifnniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHI a bout these complaints I think it would be very hard for him to deny any of them. Are we. the public to put up with an antiquated service? What should b~ done? This community needs public transport as much as any other community in Ireland. If the Government can pump millions into C.I.E. I think they ..... should subsidise Lough Swilly as well and the Company will have to bring about massive improvements in its services, if they are to win back the public. Certainly a proper service would do our tourist industry no harm. Unless these improvements are brought about I would suggest that our private Bus operators should examine the possibility of providing a regular public transport in this area. If they can get you to Dublin for £7 perhaps they would examine taking over the operations of the Lough Swilly. Or are we to remain the forgotten County -with bad roads; ":ad telephones and useless public transport. Caide do Thuairim? One of the earliest buses in this County. S!lim gur glacadh an pictiur seo ar an Fhalcarrach.