Fresh hope for Easibus fight

CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save Easibus have been offered fresh hope this week after Conor Murphy granted ´a small window of opportunity´.

On Tuesday (9th), the Roads Minister agreed to hold a public consultation over the future of the threatened bus service for people with mobility problems.

A North Down Borough Council-led delegation held rearranged talks with the minister at Stormont that morning.

The meeting was due to take place at the end of last month but fell victim to the policing and justice talks at Hillsborough Castle.

On Tuesday morning the delegation, made up of North Down Mayor Tony Hill and Councillors Ian Henry and Peter Weir attended Stormont in a last ditch effort to save the Department for Regional Development (DRD) funded service which is operated by Translink.

The talks followed a crushing blow at the Northern Ireland Assembly last week, where the minister rejected calls by local MLAs for a u-turn on the decision to cut funding to Easibus.

But later on Tuesday Councillor Henry told the council´s corporate committee that the minister had agreed to hold ´meaningful consultation´.
It´s a small window of opportunity, the DUP´s Peter Weir told the chamber.

"We pushed very hard with the minister and pursued our case very strongly," he explained.