Cork bus station branded ‘a disgrace’ but upgrade due 2026

The condition of Cork City’s Parnell Place bus station has been criticised in the Dáil, but the minister for transport confirmed that upgrade works are to begin in 2026.

Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould asked Eamon Ryan for an update on funding to maintain the bus station and plans to renovate it.

“When tourists come to the city, this is their first stop,” Mr Gould said. 

“When they see the condition of it, it does not promote the country, or Cork, as a tourist destination.”

An accessibility upgrade, which includes some station enhancements, is planned under the public-transport retrofit accessibility programme.

The project includes improved layout, signage, lighting, bathrooms, internal ramps and steps, as well as work at entrance doors, with the need for a changing facility also identified.

He added: “The project is estimated to cost €5.3m, and subject to available funding, is scheduled for construction in 2026.”

Mr Gould said: “The minister has outlined more than €5m for works that will be started if funding is got in 2026. 

"The bus station is a disgrace to Bus Éireann and to the people of Cork, and it is a disgrace to this Government that it would allow people to go in there. 

"To give the minister an idea, a lady who contacted me uses the bus service and has to travel long distances to visit family. She has to wear incontinence pads, because she cannot trust that the toilets will be operational because they close in the evening time. When they are open during the daytime, some days they are in a condition where they cannot be used.”

The minister said that he did not disagree with Mr Gould, saying: “Parnell Place bus station clearly does not meet” the expected standards, which is why reconfiguration works are due to start the year after next.

“I would prefer them to start next year,” he said. “That state of Parnell Place bus station is because of decades of underinvestment and that is changing.

“I am very confident the money will be provided, and that would be in the budget cycle of the next Government. I absolutely agree: We need to upgrade Parnell Place bus station. The plans are there, the funding will be there, and it should be done.”

Mr Gould criticised the timeline: “We need funding now. We need a proper bus station now. We need proper bus, toilet and changing facilities,” and queried whether Parnell Place is even the right location for the bus station.

“Whatever about tourists, what about our own people, young people and older people, who are going in there now?

“Right now, it is not good enough,” he added.

Bus Éireann was contacted for comment.