Prior to the general election local residents and the People Before Profit Alliance organised protests opposing the removal of the 46a from Monkstown Farm and cuts to the other bus services in the area. Labour and Fine Gael TD’s including Eamon Gilmore and Sean Barrett said they supported the campaign, but once in government they have continued to carry through the cuts, both locally and across the city.
Richard Boyd Barrett TD and Cllr Melisa Halpin have met with Dublin Bus management and the junior minister responsible for Dublin Bus – appealing to them to restore the 46a to Monkstown Farm and protect other local bus services including the 59 and 114. So far there has been no response.
At a recent public meeting on the issue in Dun Laoghaire, local residents agreed to formally request a meeting with the Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore to ask him to re-instate the 46a to the Farm. Residents have also planned further protests in September to mark the first anniversary of the removal of the 46a from Monstown Farm and Abbey Rd.
Bus campaigners in Dun Laoghaire have now linked in with other communities in Dublin fighting bus cuts. The newly established city-wide Save Our Bus Services campaign has held protests all across the city against the cuts and plans further actions in the Autumn.