Chaotic scenes as Fermanagh school children left on the side of the road without a bus service as Ulsterbus schools’ contract is not brought forward to cover August reopening

Drivers express concerns that they have been instructed to refuse fare-paying passengers on bus routes from next Tuesday

Stormont Executive must commit to return of suspended bus services and end cuts agenda which is impacting bus provision across Fermanagh and Tyrone

Cross-community Labour councillor Donal O’Cofaigh expressed his disgust at the fact that children in Fermanagh were left without any way to get to school on their first day back.

“Children who were meant to have a first day at school today were left on the side of the road after the bus they were expecting simply didn’t show. I contacted several bus drivers to find out the story and they confirmed that services weren’t operating as the Ulsterbus schools contract only starts at the beginning of September and hadn’t been brought forward. In other areas of Northern Ireland, I understand school children were charged to go to school on operating Ulsterbus services.

“This is a totally shambolic situation – children’s education and safety have been impacted. Let’s call out what happened here – Ministers in the Stormont Executive thought that children being left without any form of transport to school, on a timetable for reopening that they themselves set, was a price worth paying in order to cut public transport budgets.”

Unite the Union Forces Back Plans to Privatise Public Transport Services

Ulsterbus - One of the last Publicly Owned Bus Companies in the UK

The last few months I have been fortunate enough to been working with Unite the Union on a variety of issues of concern to working people. One such issue has been the threat to break up and privatise Northern Ireland's public transport system.

A report summarising the findings of an Inquiry held by the DRD Ministerial Scrutiny Committee into Public Transport in Northern Ireland was recently leaked to a variety of sources including the BBC and identified plans to break up and privatise bus services across Northern Ireland, beginning with the planned Belfast Rapid Transit service.

Such a move has been promoted by a number of privateer bus operators who are keen to profit from opening up lucrative routes in Northern Ireland. This proposal would represent the first major privatisation of the new political arrangements in the north. In addition to these privateers who are pushing for the move, what was of greatest concern was the fact that the proposal was backed by political representatives from all main parties in the Assembly: DUP, Sinn Fein, UUP, SDLP and Alliance.