Cafe owner Richard Jacob slams TDs for taking €2k rise during Bus Éireann strike

The owner of a Cork city cafe has criticised “grossly overpaid” TDs for accepting a €2,000 pay rise during a bus strike which has left major cities outside the capital without public transport for over two weeks.

Richard Jacob, who runs Idaho Cafe off St Patrick’s St, said: “Our politicians, especially those in government, are completely insulated from the harsh realities this strike has had on the ground.

"We elected these people to govern — not to sit back and just let this strike play out. And they accepted a pay rise while the strike was going on. That degree of insulation is terrifying.”

He was speaking after his open letter to the Government, published over the weekend, went viral.

In his letter, he said: “For Dublin, this means a mild inconvenience to weekend plans. For the rest of Ireland it means rather more.

“Elderly country dwellers who have watched their post offices close, their Garda stations close and their pubs close, are now completely isolated.

“People trying to get to work, get to elusive hospital appointments, or just to a shop, are having to pay heavily for taxis or hope for the generosity of a neighbour.

“Cities like Cork have no public transport at all. Imagine Dublin without Luas, bus or Dart and you imagine this proud city.”

He said despite government inaction, Cork had been thriving because of private investment and belief.

But he said he was “utterly depressed by the appalling mismanagement” of the country by a group of “self-serving incompetents”.

“I’ve had it with you lot. You’ve tried to crush my dreams every day since we opened this business 16 years ago, but this last fortnight you have succeeded.

“You are allowing a city to die and with it, the hopes and dreams of its entrepreneurs.

“Sort out this strike and try and regain the respect of a nation who deserve leadership and strength, not self-serving squabbles.”

Both sides in the dispute are due to attend a third day of talks today facilitated by the Workplace Relations Commission.