There is further good news for Carracastle today as Bus Eireann has announced another daily service to the village from Dublin.

The extra service will leave Dublin at 1pm and arrive in Carracastle at 4pm daily.

It follows on from an announcement from Bus Eireann a number of weeks back that their services to and from the village were to cease altogether.

Following representations Bus Eireann did restore a service to the village and an additional service was laid on.

Meanwhile following intensive negotiations over the last three weeks, Local Fine Gael TD Deputy Feighan has confirmed that Bus Eireann will re-establish bus services in Elphin.

Deputy Feighan said “Responding to my appeals to ensure the need for essential bus services in rural areas such as Elphin, Bus Eireann is now applying for a commercial licence which will ensure the restoration of services in Elphin, linking it to the Ballina-Dublin Expressway route.

“Once up and running, the commercial licence, to be operated by a private operator, will ensure a bus service twice a day in Elphin on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. The service route will link Elphin with Strokestown and also give a return service to Carrick-on-Shannon on these days.

“This vital service will allow two connections each way to Dublin from Strokestown with the added benefit of passengers linking up with train services in Carrick-on-Shannon. This bus service is in addition to the existing Friday service to Longford.

“There was justified anger when Expressway services, which the Government had no control over, were removed recently from Elphin. Thankfully, however, my hard work behind the scenes with Bus Eireann, and voicing the concerns of the local community, has ensured a workable solution to re-establish essential bus services to this rural community.

“This has been a good day for Rural Ireland. However, I will continue to work with Bus Eireann to explore other workable solutions to restore other affected bus services in the region such as Dromod, Rooskey and Ballinamore.