Latest news with #CIÉ
RTÉ News
28-05-2025
- General
- RTÉ News
100 Buildings: The Tipperary bus station reborn as an arts centre
In 1948, while construction had halted on Busáras, a regional CIÉ bus station opened in Tipperary. Like Busáras, this station was influenced by designs by leading modernist Michael Scott. It was Scott's preliminary sketch that a young architect, Eoghan Buckley (1907-1995), worked from but made his own. It is fitting that Clonmel should gain this modernist transport hub, for it was from this town that Charles Bianconi first operated his horse-drawn coaches, which would become Ireland's first public transport system. Room to gather As part of CIÉ's plan to modernise regional bus stations in the post-war period, it commissioned a depot for Clonmel. In 1946, it acquired a central location on Nelson Street. Since 1789, the Clonmel Unitarian Church had stood on the site, until it was auctioned off and demolished in 1923 (1). Buckley was enamoured with the Modern Movement. In 1936, as part of the Architectural Graduates Association of Ireland, he invited Walter Gropius (1883 – 1969), founder of the Bauhaus, to speak in Dublin for the Architectural Association of Ireland (AAI). It might have been through the AAI that Buckley first met Scott (1905 – 1989). Contrary to some sources, Buckley never worked for the practice of Michael Scott & Partners (2), but as CIÉ's Consultant Architect Scott generously approved and passed on many of commissions to promising architects. A thoroughly modern station The Clonmel bus station required the conversion of a premises formerly used by a private firm as a garage. These refurbishments were carried out by local contractors Morrissey and Sons. The old slated roof and the wall fronting onto the street were completely removed with the new structure accommodated within the remaining framework. On 4 October 1948, the new station was blessed and opened with CIÉ busmen, drivers, conductors and office staff and their families in attendance. Its design is distinctive with an abundant use of glass, perforated steel balcony, overhanging concrete eave and concrete canopies over the front entrances, all framed by smooth, rendered walls which cover the original stone cladding. The new flat roof is built of reinforced concrete, in slab and beam construction. The original drawings show the righthand canopy was once topped with simple steel lettering spelling C.I.E. (3) ' Its design was universally praised and the station was even selected for inclusion in the RIAI Better Buildings Exhibition in 1950. The station offered modern passenger amenities never before seen outside of Dublin. Passengers would enter through a tiled entrance lobby, which contained a kiosk for the sale of newspapers, tobacco, sweets, tea, coffee, etc., then on to a large waiting room. The waiting room seated eighty people. Similar to Busáras, a central glazed section filled the waiting room with natural light and allowed passengers to see their bus approach from the shelter of indoors. The floor was of highly practical coloured terrazzo with a ceiling formed in panels of painted corrugated asbestos sheeting. Off the waiting room was the men's toilets and a luggage store. There was a separate entrance to this store from the street, to allow luggage to be brought in without having to pass through the waiting room and disturb passengers. Up the reinforced concrete stairs, also finished in terrazzo, the first floor housed the women's toilets and a staff room and the inspector's office, which had windows opening directly on to the waiting room below, and access to a balcony, so that that inspector had a complete view at all times of passengers and vehicles. Moving with the times The lifespan of the bus depot reflects the societal shift towards car ownership in Ireland from being a luxury in the late forties to an expectation through the sixties and seventies. CIÉ found it difficult to justify the yearly running cost of £5000 for the regional station, which, by the early seventies, was used by an average of just 25 people daily. In August 1971, the bus depot was sold to the Clonmel Credit Union, with buses re-routed to stop at the railway station. In 1993, the building became vacant again when Credit Union moved to the former Ritz Cinema (1940) site on Parnell Street (designed by Michael Scott & Bill O'Dwyer and demolished in 1991). In April 1996, the former bus depot undertook its most recent reincarnation to become the South Tipperary Arts Centre. Despite the South Tipperary Arts Centre being recorded on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, it is not on Tipperary County Council's list of protected structures. This visually stimulating building has transitioned from one public room to another and may it continue to be a gathering space for years to come.
Irish Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
CIÉ staff end 17-year wait for pension rise and Irish consumers' love affair with US fast food
Retired CIÉ group staff look set to receive the first increase in their weekly pension in 17 years, reports Martin Wall. Increases of up to 5 per cent will be set out as part of a deal drawn up following talks by the CIÉ group and trade unions, and backed by the Government after years of campaigned by close to 6.400 former CIÉ staff. Eoin Burke-Kennedy has a report warning that a steep fall-off in housing starts combined with a slowdown in residential investment raises further doubt about the Government's housing targets. Housing commencements fell to a four-year low in the first quarter of the year. As Taco Bell prepares to launch its first outlet in Ireland , Conor Pope examines the attraction for Irish people down the years of not entirely healthy fast food born in the USA. Irish people could spend almost €530 million on package holidays this year, official figures show. Barry O'Halloran writes that the industry regulator has licensed 79 travel agents this month with the remaining five saying they were close to completing the necessary paperwork. READ MORE Ciara O'Brien was in San Francisco recently for Stripe's Sessions and, in her column, she argues that Dublin would do well to learn from a city that has managed to reinvent itself successfully many times over. Ireland's spirits sector says it will be 'uniquely exposed' if the European Union fails to secure a deal on tariffs with the United States, Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports. They said the current 10 per cent tariff on US drink imports from Europe is costing Irish producers thousands of euro every week. Our writers analyse some of the big stories of the day – in this case the Donald Trump's contradictory policies on pharmaceuticals with his latest assault on medicine prices and Goldman Sachs' return to the Irish banking market . Fewer than half of Government departments and agencies had facilitated training in artificial intelligence systems at the onset of 2025, according to responses from 18 Government departments and 40 other official bodies, writes Mark Hilliard. It comes as Official Ireland attempts to keep pace with the rapidly advancing technology and its potential applications. In Inside Business , Irish entrepreneur Jordan Dargan talks to Ciarán Hancock about his experience on the popular BBC show The Apprentice, where he came close to reaching the final two. This week's podcast also looks at US president Donald Trump's latest interventions in the medicines sector. Former critical care consultant Prof Dorothy Breen has seen first-hand the burnout in the medical profession. Now she has set up a coaching and mentoring service provided by doctors for doctors. She spoke to Olive Keogh. Finally, Ciara O'Brien takes a look at Whoop's new wearable for health conscious consumers, the MG which can even carry out an ECG on you – at a price. If you'd like to read more about the issues that affect your finances try signing up to On the Money , the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.
Irish Times
15-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Retired CIÉ staff in line for first pension increase in 17 years
Nearly 6,400 retired staff who worked at the State-owned CIÉ transport group are to receive their first pension increase in 17 years under an initiative to be announced on Thursday. Pension increases of up to 5 per cent will be set out as part of a deal drawn up following talks by the CIÉ group and trade unions, and backed by the Government. It is understood the CIÉ group, which comprises Irish Rail, Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann, will provide about €30 million to fund the cost of the rise for retired personnel who last received a pension increase in 2008, with the Government providing 'a letter of support' for the proposed pension deal. Retired staff have been campaigning for years for a pension increase, citing the rising cost of living . Minister for Transport Darragh O'Brien told the Dáil in March that the pension schemes operated in the CIÉ group had a deficit of about €371 million and that the scheme actuary did not believe that a pension rise was affordable. READ MORE The CIÉ board told the Minister in February that all the constituent companies believed that 'pensioners deserve an increase and the pension scheme deficits need to be dealt with'. Under the new proposals, the precise increase for pensioners would be calculated on a sliding basis depending on the date of retirement of the individual concerned. [ Half a million euro for a 'moderate' retirement? The lump sums you need to save Opens in new window ] Former staff who retired on or before December 31st, 2020, would receive a 5 per cent pension increase, with those who retired in 2021 getting 4 per cent, while those who retired in 2022 are in line for a 3 per cent rise. It is also proposed that a new 'pension protocol' will be put in place – similar to the arrangement in other commercial State companies – to determine increases that may apply in future years. Under the proposals, which follow lengthy talks between the CIÉ companies and trade unions, there would be some changes to existing pension schemes operated in the group, but no diminution of benefits for members. Members' contributions would not change under the proposals. The CIÉ group employs more than 12,500 people, including contractors, and there are more than 10,000 active members in the two defined benefit pension schemes in operation. These are known as the regular wages scheme and the 1951 scheme. There are about 2,260 people receiving benefits under the 1951 scheme and 4,125 in the regular wages scheme. [ Tariffs and your pension pot: Whatever you do, don't look now Opens in new window ] Under the proposals, staff taken on in future will be enrolled in a new defined contribution scheme. This is described as a 'best in class' scheme. They would also be covered by a death-in-service benefit of three times their salary as well as a spouse's and children's pension. Under other proposed reforms, current employees in the regular wages scheme would receive an enhanced retirement gratuity, up from 325 times to 351 times the weekly pension. This could see lump sums for drivers in the different companies increase by between €3,600 and €6,500. Staff covered by the 1951 scheme could, under the new proposals, retire earlier than they may have planned with improved benefits. They could also opt to cease paying contributions to the defined benefit scheme once they reached maximum service and contribute instead to the new defined contribution scheme. The Minister said in March that his officials were in contact with financial advisers at NewERA, the Pensions Authority and the Department of Public Expenditure to bring CIÉ pensions on to a more stable footing for the benefit of active and retired scheme members.
