Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
MANDATE TRADE UNION says tomorrow’s scheduled industrial action in four Marks & Spencer stores have been averted after an agreement was reached.
Union members in the Dun Laoghaire, Mullingar, Naas and Tallaght stores voted in favour of industrial action last month after the company issued their workers with compulsory redundancy notices.
Advertisement
Mandate and Marks & Spencer negotiated a settlement which was balloted on and accepted by the members in the four stores.
“It is regretful that our members had to threaten industrial action in order to achieve what was a very reasonable proposition,” said Gerry Light, MANDATE’s assistant general secretary.
“As a union, we had never questioned the motives for the closure of the four stores and all we were asking was that redeployment should be an option where possible. Our members fought for redeployment and they have now won that opportunity,” he said.
Under the the agreement staff will be able to apply for redeployment to nearby stores.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
@Mirabelle Stonegate:
I suggest you check the prices as they are actually the cheapest way to get around at the moment. Fares reduced by 20% for most people, 50% for students.
Bus to Dublin was €20 for me, €11 on the train. using viamichelin(dot)com estimated car costs to be €16
@Tim Pot: If I want to go to Cork City, I have to pay about €20 for a taxi, or more one way if I want to drive into town for a bus, and pay for parking, then €14 return for a ticket. Then, if I want to go to Dublin, it’s a further €21.49 each way.
Based on the Iaranrod Eireann website, it’s €31.31 each way by car.
So, by car, it’s €62.62 to Dublin. Or to go by train, it’s €97, once a taxi and a bus are added into the mix. €63,50 return, to go by bus, without having to account for the train.
To get a train to Dublin, I have to literally get a bus in the opposite direction first.
@Paddy Bo Diddly: Unfortunately you have to pay the tax and insurance, and NCT, whether you bring the car or leave it at home. The only way to avoid it is to get rid of it altogether which isn’t really an option for most as some of the Donegalese commenters have poonted out.
And if you did that you’d have to get the bus/train/taxis everywhere so you’d likely end up spending more than the tax/insurance would have cost you. Bringing a family anywhere would cost a fortune!
@Paddy Bo Diddly: But most people that use public transport will also have a car, therefore tax and insurance should not be considered, so dave is correct, public transport is still too expensive to encourage people to use it instead of a car. It needs to be less expensive. Trains are now overcrowded in Germany with tickets at €9 per month, thats how we need to be going here in Ireland. We still need to charge to use public transport, but not at the current prices
@Dave Connolly: yeah no idea how this isn’t a commuter train and fare yet. Day out in Dublin on the train for a family of 4 is 75 quid. Makes zero sense to me why it’s so expensive yet naas 15 minutes up the road is only 9€ return
@Paul Owens: you have them costs anyways. Very few people outside the major cities don’t have a car. It’s nearly impossible to not have a car in any county outside Dublin. If you have kids trying to get them to matches is impossible without a car. Ireland isn’t designed to survive without a car unfortunately. But the places that have good train infrastructure trains should be a viable cost option. And at 25 quid return it isn’t. Driving is cheaper even for one person
@Gary: agree with you on a few points there but most people I know who use public transport don’t own a car. Thats why they use public transport. And they choose not to drive because they can use public transport. So it doesn’t need to be factored in for many
@Dave Connolly: factor in the time taken to find a parking space and the stress of driving in Dublin traffic. Average cost of suburban parking is €1.80 per hour and city centre parking €3.50 per hour. Doing business on the train journey can be helpful pre meeting and the benefit of knowing that a couple of pints won’t affect your journey on the way home. If you’re within walking distance of your nearest train station, then it’s a lot less stressful to use the train and the online fares are much cheaper than the €25 you quote. A lot of return fares from most places are good value and allow you to include the city centre return fare on your ticket… There also provincial bus services that are very competitive too.
@Dave Connolly: in Porto at the moment – 3 day travel pass €15, metro, bus and trams. Probably cheaper if you get weekly or monthly pass. Always on time.
@Dave Connolly:
€5 in the difference and you haven’t even paid for parking yet. You can work on the train, read a book etc. When was the last time the train was delayed due to the evening rush hour?
I think it’s you who need to do the Math to be honest.
@Paddy Bo Diddly: I’m sure the insurance, tax and maintenance need to be paid regardless of an occasional train journey! Plus for every additional passenger in the car it soon works out multiple times cheaper.
@Paddy Bo Diddly: Let’s also add in the chaotic seat booking where you may not even get your reserved seat/s. The complete lack of refreshments available on board and having to put up with the antisocial behaviour that occurs quite regularly on board, If the price difference is negligible no one in their right mind would choose it over the comfort and convenience of their car. Sorry but that’s the truth.
@Jim Buckley Barrett: That’s easy if tedious. Try getting from 50 kilometres out of Cork (say to the West) to a village 30 kilometers out of Galway using only public transport – on a Sunday.
I use the train every day for work. I wish I didn’t have to. I wish we had a system like any other European country.
Capacity issues, frequency issues, signalling issues, dirty carriages, etc etc. As someone who uses the train to get to work every day, it is more rare that the train is on time. And connections? You can forget about it. Public transport in Ireland is not punctual and then you end up waiting an hour to make the connection waiting for the next bus/train.
Disgusting system altogether, and anyone who defends it is part of the problem. We are one of the wealthiest countries in the world, why do we have the worst infrastructure in Europe. See: any other country in Europe.
@Tomo: I don’t see either why people without a Leap Card can’t buy a train and DART ticket in one machine. Visitors don’t have a Leap Card handy, they don’t have coins to hand coming from an airport, but they have to queue for vending machines at each leg of a connecting journey.
@Tomo: If you want to get even angrier about our own train service, have a look at this YouTube video by a Canadian living in The Netherlands – he reckons that Swiss trains are even better than his own Dutch ones – it’ll make you sick if you use Irish trains – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muPcHs-E4qc
@Fiona Fitzgerald: there is a visitor leap card which is available at the airport. There is a 1, 3 or 7 day card which can be used in all public transport..
Our rail days went with the British, there’ll never be new track of significance as contemporary politicians are just jobbers, with no vision or long-term plan to improve life on the island, even if there was we won’t pay for it, zero aspiration.
Vision impaired people cannot drive have free travel in Ireland… How do I get from Wexford to Kilkenny? Oh I can’t. I would rather pay a little bit and actually have a service… has The train still left Rosslare port before the boat actually gets in? How do we reduce using the car if there is actually no alternative? It’s easier for me to get to London than to get to the beach ten miles away
@Anne Marie Kearney: and arrived in the Port after the boat has gone. IR only want the few busy lines, the test can close as far as they are concerned.
Prices are reasonable at the moment with the reduction. The problem is frequency & journey time. Rail still can’t compete with the car at the moment on those fronts.
@Mirabelle Stonegate: they have some very good Park and Ride systems in place outside towns and cities in the UK, why can’t we have them? And the parking in these should be included in the price of the bus/train ticket. Public transport needs to be an attractive option, not money making, but in Ireland it will always be too expensive to ditch the car
Got the train from Dublin to Kerry 14 years ago, cost €80.Got a flight from Dublin to Amsterdam 6 years ago cost €80 plus I got to Amsterdam in less time.
@Brian Tracy: Considering a plane moves at about 500 mph +, of course you got there in less time lol. Looked to get a train for my parents from Cork to Waterford a few months ago online. It would have taken them over 4 hours (other times were over 5 hours) absolute joke.
For a major European city like Dublin, it’s embarassing that we don’t have a train service to and from the airport. You arrive at Dublin Airpport at 5am, there are no buses running & you have to get a taxi. Such a disgrace!
A number of years ago I used the train to and from Dublin at off peak times. On each trip there were undesirables in the carriage, loud aggressive & somewhat drunk. One clown had a radio on full blast. I noticed that some of the the ticket checkers avoided them. I won’t be going using that method of transport again as, for me, it feels too unsafe & menacing. I wish it were otherwise but it ain’t.
@Richard Ahern: That’s why I switched to coaches at peak times or Bank Holiday weekends. When a train’s full, you can’t easily change carriage to get away from drunks. Our trains are fine at off-peak times – but there aren’t enough routes.
The last time I used a train was Dublin to Cork in December a number of years ago. There was no heat, we had to sit in coats and gloves. The light was broken in the overflowing toilet so it was a case of holding it or risk catching a disease. Never again….
I travel 5 days a week with a bicycle ( booked on website free of charge ) out of normally 4/5 carriages 1 carriage for bicycles that fits max 3 at a squeeze, note most of the time full with suitcases.
If you book your seat 80 percent of the time there is a technical issues with the seat reservation system.
What’s the point booking when it becomes a free for all
prices for one-way tickets in Germany start from €19 for short distances (up to 250 km). For longer distances prices start at €29 (Second Class) and €49 (First Class) Travel on the ICE is possible. Prices for two people traveling together start at €49 in Second Class.
@Liam Meade: 9 € per month for tickets for all regional trains in Germany (can also be used on trams & buses). ICE tickets can be bought cheap well in advance, 115 € return to Paris first class from here in Germany.
It’s a twenty minute drive to the nearest station and an hour to the one with the better routes, car parking isn’t cheap . Then there is the other end, taxis are expensive buses might be available and there might be routes to where I need to go … but only in large cities.
Even if the train was free it would be marginal on cost and a dead loss on hassle except perhaps for trips to Dublin. .
An electric car wins hands down – self driving would be gravy.
Cmon lads , Ireland had 3500km of railways in 1930s. Today, maybe 2000. Instead of building new towns in Dublin , money should be spent on adding more train tracks all over Ireland. That would make amazing impact. Then families would consider moving into deserted homes in many beautiful counties of Ireland.
@Robert Lumezi: The market is not there for more routes in rural parts of the country. . Limerick to Galway is a loss leader. Not enough passengers use the daily service.
It’s more expensive than bus and not so frequent. For me Train tickets, monthly, is slightly less than half the cost of fuel. Whereas bus would be 1/3 of my fuel costs. But I get bus sick and the walk from the bus stop to my work place would be 20mins .
It’s a very limited service. Some lines only have trains travelling toward Dublin in the.mornings so it you wanted to commute in the other direction youd have to get a bus or drive. Also no or limited late night service. It is the most pleasant way to travel. Please keep the trains alcohol free. It’s far nicer when there’s no vomit.
Cost of return ticket Dublin to Killarney €60; cost of similar car journey €120. But the onboard experience is poor…..no hot drinks available, inadequate messages, welcome non-existent!
The Drogheda Commuter train is cheap from Balbriggan, then 3km up in Gormanstown, then Laytown and Drogheda, the exact same train becomes mad expensive as it is just outside the Dublin short hop zone. People drive to Balbriggan to be able to use leap card, park and ride instead of paying massive fares for the same train. Irish rail and NTA are driving people onto the roads every day with their extortion. They’ve a lot to answer for.
@Paul O’ Riada: Exactly – the really crazy part is that the more congested the town or city becomes, the more it costs to use public transport instead. It should be the default and faster option.
Not since I was a child, and the same can be said for the bus.
After all, by the time I’d have used the car, to get to the bus station, to catch a bus in the opposite direction to my ultimate destination to catch a train to beyond my ultimate destination, through a change at Limerick Junction in Tipperary (which means again I was probably travelling in the wrong direction for a bit on the train too) and then catch another bus to somewhere near my destination and have a friend or cab meet me and go the last bit, which would probably be next door to that village’s closed railway station, which I had passed through on the train on the way there, I’d have been there cheaper and faster driving there and would have saved myself the car parking fees too!
Way better system when I was a child when there was a bus stop within reach, and the trains actually stopped in every parish and the network worked!
BTW, I’m not actually that old so a lot of others should remember how it was too.
What really annoys me is that the value faes are usually gone but there are loads of flexi fares available. Why cant all seats be value and you can upgrade to a flexi if needs be (flexi fares aren’t even that flexible anway). And it’s cheaper to fly from Kerry to Dublin these days
Still waiting for the western rail corridor to be finished. But Leo had other ideas when he disregarded the whole western region from Belfast to Cork by excluding us from EU fund Ten T when he was minister for transport. He said Ireland had not got the funds but amazing we had for East of that. Disgraceful Leo, wasn’t it Cromwell that had that attitude about the west and see how popular he was.
People living in illegal cabins - including family forced to dismantle home - tell their stories
2 hrs ago
3.9k
20
Roads
Five-year-old boy dies after being hit by car in Laois
4 hrs ago
8.6k
6
Leinster House
150 rounds of drinks ordered at the Dáil's bars on the day TDs failed to elect a new Taoiseach
20 hrs ago
39.5k
186
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 152 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 104 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 136 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 77 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 37 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 38 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 86 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 68 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 50 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 84 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 64 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say