Campaigner: Kilcully bus needed to help mourners visit graves of loved ones 

A CAMPAIGNER for rights of the elderly has backed calls for a bus service for Kilcully to be expedited, saying the lack of public transport in the area is preventing people from visiting loved ones’ graves in a local cemetery as often as they would like.

Under the new design for the Cork Metropolitan bus network, announced by the National Transport Authority (NTA) last June, it is proposed that Kilcully will be served by the new Route 52.

A spokesperson for the NTA told The Echo that the implementation of the new network for the Cork Metropolitan Area will begin in 2023 and 2024 but that timeframes for the implementation of specific routes have not yet been finalised.

Speaking to The Echo earlier this week, chairwoman of Kilcully and Ballincrokig Residents’ Association, Joan Lewis, said the service needs to be delivered in a shorter timeframe.

Well-known advocate for the elderly, Paddy O’Brien, has voiced support for the residents of Kilcully and surrounding areas whom he said have been campaigning “exceptionally hard” to procure a bus service.

Mr O’Brien, whose late wife is buried in St Catherine’s Cemetery in Kilcully, said the lack of public transport is a frequent topic of conversation among those visiting the graveyard.

“Regrettably, not all people have their own transport and as a result, they are denied being able to visit the grave of a loved one on a frequent basis,” he said.

“I speak to people there on my visits and people tell me ‘I’d love to come here more often; I’d love to come every day, but regrettably the situation with the taxis is very expensive’." 

“I met this 82-year-old widower on my last visit and we were discussing the situation about the lack of a bus service in the area and how seldom he can go to the cemetery.

“With tears in his eyes he said: ‘If there was public transport to Kilcully, I would come every day’.

“He said it is his wish that someday soon he will be able to come to St Catherine’s on a daily basis.”

Noting the comfort that visiting a grave can bring to people who are grieving, Mr O’Brien said every effort must be made to speed up the delivery of a bus service.

“I would call on all public representatives to support Joan Lewis, the chairperson of the committee, in finalising all details in relation to providing a badly- needed bus service to Kilcully,” he said. 

“It has been decided to do it but the next thing is when? When is it going to happen? And it should happen tomorrow.”