Rebel star to combat stone attacks on city buses

HURLING star John Gardiner will lead a new drive this week to combat stone attacks on buses.

The Cork senior hurler, whose father John is a bus driver, and whose late uncle was a Bus Éireann inspector, will visit primary schools across the city’s northside to warn children of the dangers of pelting buses with bricks and stones.

Children as young as eight have been involved in some attacks. Mr Gardiner will be accompanied on the school visits by community gardaí and senior Bus Éireann officials.

The campaign follows a rise in the number of attacks on buses on certain routes in various parts of the city.

They have resulted in the curtailment of bus services to some areas, including the number three to Parklands in Upper Fair Hill, where the service stops at 9pm.

National Bus and Railworkers Union (NBRU) spokesman Robert Day said bus drivers should not have to work in fear.

“We are all willing to do the job as long as we feel safe in our jobs,” he said.

“Public transport is our business and this is our livelihood but these people who attack buses are threatening our safety and our jobs.”

Bus Éireann’s Cork area manager Joe Fitzgerald said the company plans to work through the problems with the help of the affected communities and gardaí.

But he said attacks on buses are not confined to particular areas of the city.

Buses on the number five and number eight routes to Bishopstown have also been attacked, he said.

The school visits are set to begin this week as gardaí consider proposals to tackle vandalism on the number three route.

The proposals follow a meeting organised last week by Socialist Party councillor Mick Barry, Fine Gael’s Pat Gosch and Labour’s Mick O’Connell between gardaí, bus drivers, and residents.

The gardaí agreed to put forward their proposals by November 30.

Mr Barry said gardaí needed to target resources, including the deployment of unmarked garda cars, at specific areas along the route.

“We would hope to get a full bus service back to this area by Christmas,” he said.

Bus Éireann previously also announced plans to place eight CCTV cameras on city service buses in an effort to combat vandalism, which is costing the company up to €100,000 annually in Cork alone.