Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Jack Chambers, visited ten locations on a whistle-stop tour of the county last week. He was accompanied throughout by Senator Erin McGreehan, and met with local Fianna Fáil councillors.

The Minister’s first stop was at Drogheda Port, where he met with officials, and from there he went on to Dunleer, taking in a visit to the train station and later the refurbished Market House.

Among those to greet him was Eugene Conlon, who heads up the not-for-profit Energy Team, based at the Market House. Also present were staff members.

Mr Conlon spoke of the importance of having the station re-opened. It would be hugely beneficial to those who commute daily to Dublin and other towns and cities, alleviating congestion on the roads.

Cllr John Sheridan also impressed upon the Minister the need for the station. It is in easy access to the town and hinterland, which has grown rapidly in recent years.

When he asked about other stations on the line from Dundalk to Dublin, he was told that Laytown had one just south of Drogheda, and this wouldn’t cater for a catchment area as big as Dunleer’s. 

Travel and transport was also on the agenda when the Minister met with Paddy Matthews, whose firm, Matthews Coach Hire, founded by Mr Matthews and his wife, Mary, in 1995, is one of the country’s foremost companies of its kind.

Mr Matthews highlighted the difficulty in getting staff. He said there was a dearth in labour, and this didn’t allow for expansion.

Sen. McGreehan and Councillor Andrea McKevitt, were able to highlight firsthand the need for safety measures on the road from Dundalk to Greenore, the R173, on the Minister’s visit to the Cooley Peninsula. Both are resident in the area.

They have been advocating for some time how necessary it is to have measures introduced. Hot spots, as they were referred to, are in Bellurgan, especially in the vicinity of the local school, Lordship where there is another school, and Bush Post Primary School.

The visit to Bush coincided with the end of classes, and the Minister was able to see for himself the chaos there was with buses and cars gathering to collect students. He expressed his shock at what was happening.

Having spoken with the school’s vice-principal, M/s Rosanna Hart, the Minister said he will get the Safe Schools team in his department to examine the situation.

Sen McGreehan made the point that while the R173 was classed as a Regional Road it was daily carrying National Road traffic, and this had obvious dangers.

On his visit to Greenore, the Minister met with Port officials, members of the Coast Guard, and Peter Hanlon, of Hanlon Transport, one of the biggest haulage companies in the country.

Minister Chambers’ tour ended with a stop-off in Clogherhead, where he had another meeting with the Coast Guard members. He lauded their efforts just as he had done in Greenore, saying that in its 200-year existence, the voluntary body had done invaluable work, saying countless hundreds of lives.