Ballyshannon and Belleek launch campaign for Local Link service

Rockfield Community Hall hosted a public meeting on Thursday 17th of October to officially launch the campaign to provide Belleek and Ballyshannon with a new Rural Link Service.

Launched as the ‘Link Us Up’ campaign it has clearly lit passion in both communities. There were in excess of 100 people in attendance with the people of Belleek and Ballyshannon coming out to voice their support for the provision of the new bus route.

The event was hosted by Rockfield Community Co-Op who are spearheading the campaign backed by business and community groups on both sides of the border. The meeting was chaired by Terry Hughes who set out the group’s intent to lodge an application with the Rural Link Office to create a new cross border route providing a flexible public transport option between the border towns.

Martin McLaughlin of Rockfield Community Co-Op expanded on the group’s plans outlining the need for the service to be established. It was pointed out that the loss of the Bank of Ireland and the closure of St. Mary’s Secondary School in Brollagh have been huge hits to the Belleek community.

Ballyshannon has seen business closures recently and any positive developments would be much welcomed in the area. 

Parents of children travelling to Colaiste Cholmcille in Ballyshannon from Belleek were out in force at the public meeting and it was highlighted that sending kids away to school in the dark early morning hours to Enniskillen not to return until after dark on winter evenings is not something we would normally associate with our rural way of life. 

Mr. McLaughlin went on to state that the changing landscape around the border areas would inevitably see the need for combined services and if simple steps such as the provision of a bus route were put in place at this stage the future flow of students to the southern system would organically develop to the benefit of the entire community. 

Older members of the community, many of whom are isolated and unable to get to their nearest town for basic needs such as attending the Health Centre, banking or even bingo, are also to be served. The campaign launched a survey earlier in the week and Michelle Gallagher from the Post Office in Belleek brandished over 100 filled in survey sheets already gathered at Belleek Post Office.

Cyril Brennan, also of Rockfield Community Co-Op, provided analysis of the existing services and outlined the need for greater connectivity and flexibility for our local communities and tourists during the summer season. Cyril remarked that it is unusual that Belleek Pottery as one of the country’s top tourist attractions doesn’t have a flexible public transport service that would bring passengers travelling the Wild Atlantic Way out to Belleek.

The heavy turnout from the political world in attendance added their voices in support. Barry Sweeny of Ballyshannon Regeneration and former Councillor informed the crowd that a previous attempt to deliver the scheme had reached an advanced stage pre-Covid and with the community group now providing on the ground data that the campaign had a good chance of success. 

Cllr Michael McMahon commended the organisation of the campaign and committed support at Council level as did Cllr Manus Boyle and Cllr Michael Naughton, who were also in attendance. Cllr John Feely from Belleek reiterated the need for the proposed service and suggested that the provision of ancillary buses could be investigated on the northern side of the border to link up with the service at Belleek. 

Cllr Marie Casserly spoke very practically of the way that the campaign had gone about their business to date and in particular working positively with the Donegal Rural Link Office. Cllr James Gilmartin added his voice in support on behalf of Marian Harkin TD. Nessa Cosgrove, a Labour candidate in the upcoming General Election ,added her support. Martin Kenny TD, who is also the Sinn Fein spokesman on transport, provided further insight on how to progress the project as well as pledging support.

From the floor Eugene Perry of the Ballyshannon Men’s Shed outlined the need for even the most basic of necessities such as that ‘a man could get out for the odd pint and get home again’. Brendan Gallagher of Cliff highlighted that as of the week of the meeting there was ‘only one taxi operating regularly in Ballyshannon due to the other one being on holiday!’

The night was brought to a close on a very poignant note when one local pensioner shared with the gathering that due to declining health he feared he would soon be unable to drive and did not know how he would be able to get himself and his wife around to cater for basic needs. You could hear a pin drop in Rockfield Community Hall as this dignified gentleman brought the message home that this service is a necessity.

The consensus from the meeting was  that a very strong case in conjunction with the Rural Link Office, can be presented to the National Transport Authority for delivery of a new Rural Link Route. To do that the campaign is appealing for people who will genuinely use the Local Link Service to get their hands on a survey sheet and make their needs known.

Survey sheets are available from Belleek and  Ballyshannon Post Offices as well as several local businesses. Alternatively, you can PM the group's Facebook page.