TRANSPORT Minister Eamon Ryan has told the Oireachtas Transport Committee that Limerick has been starved of good public transport options.
During a discussion on the National Investment Framework for Transport in Ireland (NIFTI) he asked why rail passengers had to change trains at Limerick Junction to reach Limerick City.
“Every time you have to get out of the bloody train and get on a different one”, he declared.
Stating that transport links should be developed between Limerick’s three third level colleges, the Minister said that just three per cent of Limerick’s population live in the city’s historic core.
He believed this could change if transport links were developed between University of Limerick, TUS Limerick and Mary Immaculate College.
He also told TD and Senators that permission granted for the Northern Distributor Road development through Moyross was conditional.
“I said fine, but on one condition, that you open up. That you take down the walls in Moyross that separate it from the rest of the city and communities, and you build the active travel and bus connection between UL, LIT and Mary Immaculate College.
“I believe that this would transform the city in three years”, he added.
However, this was met with accusations of “goading” by Limerick Fine Gael TD and Committee Chairman, Kieran O’Donnell.
Deputy O’Donnell told Minister Ryan “you interfered in a process below in Limerick. The people of Moyross were entitled to it. You created chaos. You did everything possible to ensure it didn’t go through”, Deputy O’Donnell said.
“People in Limerick have been calling for investment in public transport for years and those calls have gone unanswered”.
Minister Ryan rejected the assertion that he was goading people, and told Deputy O’Donnell that he was passionate about what could be done for Limerick.
