A free bus service laid on by the Dublin City Centre Business Association hopes to entice Christmas shoppers.
Paddy Lenehan, chairman of the City Centre Business Association hopes the initiative will be the antidote to strikes and marches beleaguering the city. Ireland's national public transport provider Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) is supplying the buses and the city centre traders are paying the £10,000 bill.
Four special buses travel between O'Connell Street and Stephen's Green and passengers can also use any scheduled CIÉ bus within a defined area without paying a fare. The service will operate until Christmas Eve from Monday to Saturday between 10 am and 4.30pm. While no fares will be collected, union regulations mean each bus must have a conductor.
Many shoppers are not aware of the free buses, but crowds in the city lead one woman to say she would prefer not to take the bus and is more inclined to walk. However, another woman and is very positive about a free bus service between the two main shopping areas of O'Connell Street and Stephen's Green.
If I knew about them I would have used them this morning.
An RTÉ News broadcast on 12 December 1981. The reporter is Brendan O’Brien.
