Bus Éireann drivers ‘disgusted’ as jobs relocated and axed - 'When you’re only a driver, you don’t count'

“I’m disgusted with the way we were treated. When you’re only a driver, you don’t count.” Those are the words of Bus Éireann’s Pierce Keane, who has driven the Clonmel-Dublin route for more than 23 years.

He voiced the disappointment of colleagues yesterday after they were told their “old jobs” on that service were either being relocated to Waterford, or were gone.

Among the cuts outlined by Bus Éireann before the suspended bus strike got under way was the axing of the Dublin to Clonmel; Dublin to Derry; and Athlone to Westport expressway services. While attention has focussed on the return to work by drivers and other staff, those cuts are almost certain to remain in place.

The Clonmel route is already gone; a decision is likely on the Athlone- Westport route within weeks but it is expected to be cut; while the Derry service may also be shelved.

“I’m the longest-serving driver going to Dublin from anywhere in the country,” Mr Keane said yesterday.

“The [Clonmel] route is gone. We have actually no work and there was no provision made in the WRC for us.”

He said 13 drivers are affected, and have been told they will be working from the Waterford depot when services are back to normal. ”

He argued that of the eight Dublin runs done on the X7 route from Clonmel each day, until its closure, all but two — those that left at 2.30am and 6.35pm — “did pretty good”.

Meanwhile, the old 7 service, which stopped at towns and villages along the way and was replaced by the quicker X7 route two years ago, was “a brilliant service to serve every town,” he said.

Waterford-based driver Mark Fitzgerald drove the Clonmel route some years ago and described closures to the likes of the Clonmel, Westport, and Derry routes as “death by a thousand cuts”. “It’s awful. That old number 7 service was a thriving service and a proper bus service. It’s just a shame,” he said.

Regarding the upcoming ballot of drivers and other staff who were on strike, he said “the devil is in the detail” of the Labour Court recommendation.

“We will have to wait and see the new rosters and see exactly how they’re going to affect people. I’m here in Cork today and there’s a lot of ill will here. We have to sit down and study the document and how it affects each driver, route by route.”