FURTHER DISRUPTION to road, rail and ferry services is expected today and tomorrow, according to the main transport providers.
Local authorities, along with transport providers and the AA, appealed to those intending to travel to stay at home, particularly in the worst-affected areas in Galway and Cork.
From early afternoon, long queues of cars formed when Galway West TD Frank Fahey reported that the National Roads Authority (NRA) had acceded to his request to open a temporary stretch of the N6 Ballinasloe-Galway motorway, which is still under construction.
Hours later, as darkness fell, the NRA did open two stretches – a 26km section bypassing Craughwell and Loughrea, and a 5km section bypassing Ballinasloe, with one lane only in each direction. The NRA stressed that it was a temporary measure as the road was in an incomplete condition. The final N6 section of motorway is not due to open officially until early next year.
Rail access to Galway city was restored yesterday afternoon after Thursday’s flooding problems at Athenry were overcome by Iarnród Éireann.
In Cork, gardaí said the only access to the city centre last night was via Patrick Street, which it warned could close at any time.
The N71 Cork to Bantry road was impassable through Skibbereen and Innishannon.
There was also flooding of the N4 in Carrick on Shannon, Co Leitrim, and on secondary roads across the country. In Tipperary, large areas of Clonmel were flooded.
On the Sligo line, bus transfers were in operation between Carrick on Shannon and Longford.
On the Limerick-Ennis line, bus transfers were also in operation yesterday, while on the Rosslare line the transfers remain in place between Wicklow and Gorey due to landslides. Dublin-Cork train services are operating in full, but were delayed by up to 30 minutes due to the flooding in Co Cork.
Bus Éireann said services were running by last night except for Dublin-Galway intercity services.
Fast craft services on the Irish Sea, the Stena Explorer and the Irish Ferries vessel Jonathan Swift, have been cancelled for today and tomorrow, and intending passengers will be carried on conventional vessels. Sailings from Rosslare continue to be monitored.
Many flights were delayed at Dublin airport. A spokeswoman said the situation would be monitored closely over the weekend. The State’s main transport providers have advised intending travellers to check their journeys on telephone advice lines and websites.
For flights through Dublin airport, the website address is www.dublinairport.com; links to Cork and Shannon may be had from www.daa.ie; and the address of Ireland West Airport, Knock, is www.irelandwestairport.com
For ferry advice, phone Stena Ferrycheck at 01-2047799 or see www.stenaline.ie. Irish Ferries is available at 0818-300 400 or www.irishferries.ie
Iarnród Éireann has up-to-date data and timely travel alerts on www.irishrail.ie/news_centre.
Bus Éireann is available at www.buseireann.ie
The AA website carries regular data on all of the above services. It is at www.aaroadwatch.ie