Visitors from the USA who arrived at Monaghan Bus Station at the weekend were confronted by offensive graffiti and walls and cubicles smeared with excrement when they entered the toilet facility, Monday’s meeting of Monaghan Co Council was informed. The issue was brought to light by Fine Gael councillor David Maxwell, who said he had photographs of the toilet area which showed it to be “an absolute disgrace”.
Councillor Maxwell said he had been informed by American tourists who came to Monaghan at the weekend that when they went to the toilets in the bus station they found they were smeared with excrement and graffiti. When they reported the matter to a member of staff, they were told by them: “It’s not my job.” “We are investing money in tourism and trying to build a tourism product,” Councillor Maxwell stated, adding that the only way to travel to Monaghan on public transport was by bus and to have basic toilet facilities in such a state would give their town and county a bad name. The photographs he had spoke for themselves, he said. He urged that the Council send a letter on the matter to Bus Éireann, stating that the transport provider would have to “step up to the mark”.
Referring to the experience of a family member who recently had to wait for a protracted period to get a bus from Dublin Airport to Monaghan, Sinn Féin’s Seán Conlon said the service that Bus Éireann provided to this part of the country was “absolutely unacceptable and pathetic”. P J O’Hanlon (Fianna Fáil) thought the Council should be “going higher” in relation to its representations on Monaghan Bus Station. “We are going nowhere with writing letters to Bus…
