Following the withdrawal of the Bus Éireann service taking pilgrims to and from St Patrick's Purgatory, Lough Derg, a Ballyshannon operator has stepped into the breach.
Taxi and coach hire operator, Dan Gibbons, from Ballyshannon, has come to the rescue of pilgrims who travel to Lough Derg by bus.
Up until this year, pilgrims who arrived at Ballyshannon bus depot from all over the country, could then transfer to another Bus Éireann service which would take them to Lough Derg.
But, this year, when St Patrick's Purgatory opened for the season on 1st June, the Bus Éireann had been discontinued.
A spokesperson for Lough Derg recalled there has been public transport to Lough Derg for over 150 years. There was a train service from 1866 to 1954, which was then replaced by a daily bus service (initially under CIE, which then became Bus Éireann) which ran until last year.
"Our main gripe was there was no consideration for us", the spokesperson said, pointing up the fact that the first they knew the service had been discontinued was when pilgrims contacted Bus Éireann to ask for bus times to Lough Derg only to be told the service was no longer running.
Lough Derg went public about this last week, with Deborah Maxwell, Lough Derg Manager, highlighted the situation.
"Other options we would have liked to talk to Bus Éireann would have included a two-day a week service, but we never got the chance" continued the spokesperson. However, a filter service from Ballyshannon to Lough Derg is now provided by Dan Gibbons".
In talking about providing the service to Lough Derg Mr Gibbons said he has been taking people, including those who may have missed the bus, to Lough Derg for almost 30 years. His Ballyshannnon to Lough Derg service runs daily and connects with the arrival of buses from Dublin and Galway.
"If we take pilgrims up (to Lough Derg), we'll know we have to collect them again,".
He that the numbers travelling to Lough Derg by bus are down, as more people are travelling by car, and he suggested it was partially for this reason Bus Éireann considered this service no longer viable.
This is where MrGibbons has an advantage. If there are only a couple of pilgrims for St Patrick's Purgatory in Lough Derg, he can send them up in one of his taxis. If the numbers are bigger, he has a 14 seater minibus as well as a 25 and a 33 seater in his fleet which he can put into service, depending on demand.
He stays in contact with both Bus Éireann and Lough Derg to find out when a service is required and he then lifts people from the Ballyshannon bus depot.
"We'll give is a try for one season and see how it works", he said.
For their part, Bus Éireann say they will improve their services to Ballyshannon so nobody misses their connections, as was happening over recent years due to bad scheduling.
And, although people do travel by car, more pilgrims travel either by bus or as part of an organised pilgrimage since, after two days and two nights with little sleep or food, many wouldn't feel fit to drive.
The season for three day pilgrimages at St Patrick's Purgatory on Lough Derg runs from 1st June to 15th August. Following this, the island is open for one day pilgrimages. More information about Lough Derg is available on their website 'www.loughderg.org'.
