Iarnród Éireann ticket trouble

[Colm Moore]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...284260798.html

Iarnród Éireann ticket trouble

TIM O’BRIEN

IARNRÓD ÉIREANN has denied withdrawing a special offer of cut- price travel for union members who might want to use train services to get to today’s protest.

Some members of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions who planned to avail of a special offer, which was advertised in Ictu’s People’s Voice newspaper, experienced difficulties yesterday.

The advertisement offered a 10 per cent discount for Ictu members on travel between Dublin and Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Sligo, Mayo and Kerry.

The closing date for the offer was midnight last night. However a number of people claimed the Iarnród Éireann website would not give them the discount yesterday. There were allegations in union circles that the Government had applied pressure on CIÉ.

CIÉ communications manager Barry Kenny said no instruction “or even an expression of concern” had been received from the Government. He said the ad was not published with the march in mind but was “a standard ad” which was put in trade journals from time to time.

He apologised if there were difficulties with the website.