Rail Horror

Sir, - I had the great good fortune to attend my first Munster final in the city of Cork on Sunday, July 6th

Sir, - I had the great good fortune to attend my first Munster final in the city of Cork on Sunday, July 6th. I had the misfortune to use Iarnroid Eireann to get there. To say that the day was ruined by using that mode of transport would be an understatement.I have travelled through Africa, Afghanistan and India on a thirdclass rail ticket and never did I experience in any of those countries what befell my two companions and me last Sunday. The train left Houston at 9.40 a.m. and arrived three hours later. In that time it was impossible to acquire a cup of tea or coffee, a sandwich or, unbelievably, a glass of water. It was impossible to acquire a seat. The carriages and corridors were full beyond capacity. We stood for the entire journey.That would have been bearable if one had the normal use of the public urinal. This was denied all three of us 50-odd-year-old men for the entire journey. An undignified and unpleasant experience, particularly as one of the threesome suffers from an acute renal problem. Hard as this may be to believe, the return journey was an identical nightmare. The urinals were peopled by irate citizens who, unable to secure a seat in the normal way, decided to sit out the journey in the only manner they considered available to them.The GAA is exempt from blame in this matter. It informed Iarnroid Eireann of the numbers expected. When I challenged the rail authority on this issue the sole excuse offered was: "It is impossible to get people to work on a Sunday." Perhaps Iarnroid Eireann should speak to Margaret Heffernan to see if she might release some of her merry band of workers. - Yours, etc.,JOHN O'MAHONY,Lower Leeson Street,Dublin 2.