I would like to ask if Dublin bus take 83’s off service to be
redeployed if they are short of buses elsewhere in the city? Also I
would like to get a reply to this question in addition to replies to
the concerns I have raised below re data discrepancy from Dublin bus
between their Dublin bus app and text service.

Eugene Donohoe 21 jan 2012

And 20 jan 2012

I wish to endorse what Geraldine has said here below. On many
occasions I use the Dublin Bus app on my phone. Frequently the bus
which should be on the mid-hour slot is missing from the data (there
are three buses listed in the evening in the hour). So you don’t know
if you go out whether or not it will come and at the time it should
come according to the different data one gets from Dublin Bus text!
Its quite amazing that you can get different bus times data on two
different platforms (text and phone app) from the same company!! This
would be funny if it was a movie but when you’re trying to plan your
life and get to and fro it’s a nightmare. The RTPI signs work
sometimes but nowhere near as to be a quality reliable service. I used
to walk around to the Met office to have a choice of buses but now
that Dublin bus has re-routed the 13 and scrapped the 19, there is no
alternative to the unpredictable 83 that we are all stuck with as the
only means of public transport to get into town on, from Finglas east
through to the Botanic Gardens. It’s a hell of a walk to have some
choice! I too have had the same experience as Geraldine, walking along
in the belief that the 83 is some time away only to have it sail past
me between stops.

Eugene Donohoe

Dear Anne,

I went to the RTPI sign at the Met Office at 5.15pm on
Tues. The Information was an 83 in 15 minutes so I decided to walk the
the “Super Route” No,9 on Botanic Rd. 7 minutes later the 83 lunged
past me at the corner. This has happened many times. Everyone in
Glasnevin knows that your sign does not work. After you fixed it last
time and decided that it was 92% accurate on that day I question your
ability to work out percentages and accuracy of these very expensive
contraptions. Last Fri all of these were out of order. Each day Dublin
Bus has a different reason for the bus being late or overcrowded or
suddenly disappearing. People of Glasnevin do not enjoy a fast
afficient bus service and you have played a large part in the
destruction of our infrastructure. At our meeting in July we outlined
the consequences of scrapping the 19. These are very serious for
residents of Glasnevin. Please work out a compensatory plan to make
amends for all the misery and hardship you have caused while
pocketting a large salary.

Yours truly,

Geraldine Gough 19 jan 2012

The disproportionate and unfair cuts to education in areas like
Ballymun proposed by Government in December have stunned members of
Ballymun Principals Network. The Network is calling for community-wide
support in protest against these cuts on Thursday 19th January 2012 at
3.30pm outside the Department of Education and Science, Marlborough
Street, Dublin 1. The protest is being organised by the Irish National
Teachers’ Organisation (INTO). Members of the Ballymun community are
being asked to come out in force and support this protest and stand up
for the children in their community.

Should these cuts go ahead the pupil-teacher ratio would be increased
and the level of support for children with learning difficulties and
emotional and behavioural problems would be seriously reduced in
Ballymun. These cuts are proposed at a time when a recent ESRI report
highlighted that over 40% of students in schools in urban
disadvantaged areas have Numeracy, Literacy and Emotional and
Behavioural difficulties. Cuts like these would mean that the
community of Ballymun would lose in excess of 20 teachers; the
equivalent of closing one whole school.

Chairperson of the Principals Network Kate Hogan stated that the
impact on children of the proposed cuts would be devastating;
negatively affecting the ability of schools to deliver the education
that children in Ballymun deserve. “These cuts would directly
undermine the notable improvements schools have made in raising
literacy and numeracy levels and in improving attendance in all
schools in Ballymun. The Delivering Equality of Opportunity to Schools
(DEIS) programme would be dismantled because of this budget.”

Each school in Ballymun is calling on parents to sign a petition
calling for a total reversal of Government proposals; this petition
will be presented to locally elected representatives to emphasise the
community’s horror at the cuts and to elicit the support of Ballymun’s
political representatives in the fight to protect childrens’
education.

A series of parent meetings have been called by schools where
Principals and their teaching staff will urge parents to speak out
against these unjust and unjustified cuts.

The Principals Network is asking:

- That the General Allocation Model remains unchanged – previous
to this budget DEIS schools received a support teacher for every 80
pupils. This ratio would be raised from 80:1 to approximately 120:1

- To retain support teachers (what Minister Quinn TD calls
‘legacy posts’). These were put in place because of the identified
need in schools – Ballymun has come a long way in improving literacy
and numeracy – this will reverse any improvements made.

Support Ballymun’s childrens’ right to education. Support this fight back!

For further information contact:

Kate Hogan, Chairperson, Ballymun Principals Network.

Tel: 01 8375255

Ballymun Principals Network

Date: 17th January 2012