Tallaght Central Labour Cllr Dermot Looney and the
IT Tallaght Labour Youth Branch have welcomed the construction of a bus shelter
outside the college following a campaign which has lasted almost three years.
Looney launched a campaign with the college branch at the beginning of 2010 to
highlight the concerns of the hundreds of students and staff of IT Tallaght who
use the bus stop on the Old
Blessington Road on a daily basis.
The campaign included a petition with 1,100
signatures from IT Tallaght students, motions to South Dublin County Council,
social media platforms and other methods to convince Dublin Bus of the need to
install the shelter at the stop. Following pressure from the campaign, Dublin
Bus confirmed they would inspect the site in March 2011 and agreed in November
2011 to seek planning permission. This planning permission was agreed in the
summer of 2012 and the construction of the shelter occurred during the last
week. The shelter has already been well used by students and staff of the
college, as well as others who live and work in the area, given the inclement
weather.
“I am delighted to welcome the installation of this
much-needed bus shelter,” noted Cllr Dermot Looney, “the delivery of which was
achieved after almost three years of campaigning. I want to congratulate my
colleagues in the IT Tallaght Labour Youth branch for their work in helping to
win this campaign. I also want to thank Dublin Bus for recognising the demands
of students and other bus users in installing this shelter, and South Dublin
County Council for assisting the application process.”
“I also want to pay tribute to IT Tallaght Students’
Union, who supported the campaign, to the hundreds of staff and students who
signed the petition, the dozens to signed up to our Facebook page, and to the
other public representatives in the area who supported my motions.”
Adam Fulham, Chair of IT Tallaght Labour Youth,
said; “Our campaign started in early 2010 when we began to collect signatures
for a petition we sent to Dublin Bus. By the end of 2010, 1,100 people had
signed the petition for the shelter. More than 300 people signed up to our
Facebook group and we won support from Cllrs and TD’s through the work of Cllr
Dermot Looney. This is a great example where people power has won out for the
students of our college.”
Below:
Picture of Cllr Dermot Looney and Adam Fulham at the Bus Shelter outside IT Tallaght,
with some of the petitions signed by IT Tallaght students and staff.
.JPG)
