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The Journal
19 hours ago
- Business
- The Journal
Heads up Dublin commuters - Leap Card bus fares are changing from next week
NEXT MONDAY, REVISED fares for Dublin's commuter bus services will come into effect under a new Leap zonal fare system. The changes follow similar updates to rail fares introduced in April . The National Transport Authority (NTA) says the new system aims to make fares more 'equitable and easy-to-understand' by basing prices more closely on the straight-line distance between where journeys start and finish. This replaces the previous setup where different operators, like Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann, used separate fare zones that didn't always match up. The Leap area is divided into four zones, which will have different fares applied. Transport for Ireland Transport for Ireland In Zone 1, where bus passengers were already eligible to pay with a Leap Card, the 90-minute fare will remain unchanged (€2 for adults, €1 for young adults and students, and €0.65 for Child Leap Cards). Advertisement For Dublin commuter bus services in Zone 1, the fare will be €2.40 for adults and €1.20 for young adults, students and children using Leap Cards. Zone 2 will cover areas including Gormanston, Skerries, Kilcock, Sallins & Naas, Greystones and Kilcoole. The fare will cost €3.70 for a bus to Dublin for adults, and €1.85 for students, young adults and children. Drogheda, Enfield, Newbridge and Wicklow Town will be included in Zone 3, where it will cost adults €5.30 for a bus to the city centre. For students, young adults and children, it will cost €2.65. Zone 4 will be furthest from the city centre, covering areas like Kildare Town and Rathdrum at a cost of €6.30 for adults and €3.15 for students, young adults and children. Fares on services run by Bus Éireann and Go-Ahead Ireland will change from 16 June alongside the change in Leap Card fees – some will go up, some down, and others will stay about the same. Single journey fares have been updated, with Leap Card users getting the best prices compared to cash, according to the National Transport Authority. New daily, weekly, and monthly Leap Card products will also be introduced, covering travel between the zones and within central Dublin on TFI rail, Luas, and city buses. The weekly cap for travel in all four zones for an Adult Leap Card is €67.20. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
The Journal
a day ago
- The Journal
Sustainable, affordable, doable: exploring the Wild Atlantic Way without a car
SUMMER IS A time for adventure, and there are few adventures in Ireland quite like the Wild Atlantic Way. Encompassing some of the most beautiful and exciting experiences in Europe, including the Cliffs of Moher, the Ring of Kerry and Connemara, the Wild Atlantic Way is a journey to take anyone's breath away. It's also never been easier to do it without a car. The integrated Transport for Ireland (TFI) public transport network, connecting some of the most scenic and popular holiday destinations in Ireland allows visitors to explore the Wild Atlantic Way without the hassle of bringing, or renting a car. There are many advantages to leaving your car at home in the driveway while you explore some of Europe's most exhilarating natural beauty spots. Dingle, Co Kerry First and foremost, you can sit back, relax and focus on immersing yourself in your surroundings rather than worrying about petrol or charging stations, possibly unfamiliar roads, or getting lost or delayed. Second of all, the comprehensive network of TFI bus routes all along the Wild Atlantic Way means there's no need to stress when figuring out where you need to go and how to get there. There's a route for you wherever you're going; all you need to do is hop on a bus. By choosing public transport, you're also doing your bit to safeguard Ireland's natural beauty by making a more sustainable transport choice. Thanks to the many TFI bus routes introduced as part of the Connecting Ireland Rural Mobility Plan, the Wild Atlantic Way can now be explored by all — even if you don't drive, or would simply rather enjoy the spectacular cliff views, rolling green hills, and golden seaside sunsets without having to think about all the stresses that come with being responsible for your car. Since January 2022, the Plan has delivered over 150 new or enhanced bus services throughout rural Ireland. Advertisement Co Kerry On the Transport for Ireland website , you can explore a Wild Atlantic Way interactive map which you can use to discover the many transport options that are available. For example, if you are in the Southern Peninsula area enjoying some time in Dingle, you can look up the map to see which services are available to take you to your next stop on the Wild Atlantic Way. Currently, there are 17 TFI bus routes that operate through the Southern Peninsula, empowering you to head in any direction you wish — whether that's up through Clare towards Galway, Mayo and beyond, or further east along Cork's south coast. TFI also has you covered when it comes to planning your route, which you can do by using the TFI Live app . It's never been easier to travel car-free. So what are you waiting for? You can download the TFI Live App here . For the cheapest fares, be sure to use your TFI Leap Card and save up to 30% compared to a cash single fare. Plan your next car-free Wild Atlantic Way adventure with TFI now.
Extra.ie
15-05-2025
- Business
- Extra.ie
Leap Card users warned as new fare zones introduced
Transport for Ireland have confirmed the addition of four new fare zones in Dublin and surrounding areas, which came into effect from April 28. Most fares in Zone 1: TFI Dublin remain unchanged, though there are some changes in other zones. Bus Éireann fare changes are set to come into effect from June 2025. Transport for Ireland have confirmed the addition of four new fare zones in Dublin and surrounding areas, which came into effect from April 28. Pic: Shutterstock Here's everything you need to know… The TFI 90 minute fare in Zone 1 remains unchanged at €2 for an adult; €1 for a young adult/ student and 65c for child leap cards. A daily cap of €6/day for adult; €3 for young adult/student and €1.95 for child leap cards is in place to allow any combination of Dublin City Bus services. The TFI 90 minute fare in Zone 1 remains unchanged at €2 for an adult; €1 for a young adult/ student and 65c for child leap cards. Pic: TFI A cap of €24/week for adults; €12 for young adult/ students and €7.80 for child leap cards is also in place while the monthly and annual cap is €96 and €960 respectively. TFI say: 'If your Zone 1 Dublin City Bus service crosses into Zone 2, both the daily/ weekly cap and the TFI 90-minute fare apply. 'Some of these services include bus routes: 33, 33a, 33x, 65, 65a, L1, L2, L3, X1 and X2.' Adult Leap Card users are warned they need a minimum of €2.50 on their TFI Leap Cards to travel on Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail services. Pic: Nicola_K_Photos/Shutterstock For Commuter Zones 2, 3 and 4, passengers can buy zonal train tickets via the Leap Top-Up App. Zone 2 covers areas including Gormanstown, Skerries, Kilcock, Sallins & Naas, Grestones and Kilcoole. Zone 3 covers areas including Drogheda, Enfield, Newbridge and Wicklow Town. Zone 4 includes areas such as Kildare Town and Rathdrum. Adult Leap Card users are warned they need a minimum of €2.50 on their TFI Leap Cards to travel on Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail services. 'You can continue travelling within Zone 1 for free if you travel from Zones 2, 3 or 4 and tap-on again in Zone 1 within 90 minutes of your first tap-on,' TFI stated.
Irish Times
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
‘It really is a war': Creatives braced to be among first casualties of AI expansion
'It really is a war,' says Dermot Flynn about the sudden and growing impact of AI. As an animator and illustrator, it seems he is one of those to find himself in the front line. 'Everybody I speak to now says how quiet it is, how less busy they are. 'And these people who are developing the programmes and systems, they're not concerned with humanity at all or making the world a better place. It's just about their own aggrandisement and ego.' Flynn, who has won a string of awards during 25 years of working with the likes of Apple, Disney, Adidas, the New Yorker and Vogue, has seen his share of change but nothing quite like this. READ MORE Social media, he says, resulted in 'a glut' of images online but the capacity of AI to look at almost everything out there then generate to order has taken the potential for transformation of the current employment landscape to another level. Cisac, the international copyright organisation comprised of more than 200 societies in more than 100 countries, estimates total revenues earned by creators in the global music sector will decline 24 per cent by 2028 and 21 per cent in the audiovisual sector in the same period. The international market for 'content' of these types produced by AI is set to increase from €3 billion last year to €64 billion in three years' time. There will, of course, be new opportunities for people with the right skill sets to earn money from doing things in different ways but for actual creatives, or artists, the research all suggests they are set to be on the wrong end of things in a bad way. Recently returned from the UK to live in Dublin, where he is balancing work for private clients with lecturing at NCAD, Flynn recently attended a conference on the impact of AI held in Bologna where films such as Terminator 2 and The Matrix were being analysed. 'It's moving so fast, we really are just trying to keep up,' he says. The 'we' includes just not just creatives like himself but also legislators who, he believes, have already been left behind by the first wave of generative AI. 'It's only going to get more difficult when they move on to the second generation. 'It's just making it more and more difficult for artists and writers and other creative people to make a living. And it was hard enough as it is. One of the images used by Transport for Ireland in an advertising campaign last year that were criticised by illustrators as being obviously generated by AI. He points to a poster campaign run by Transport for Ireland that attracted a lot of online ire from the creative community for being AI-generated. 'There was something plastic and cold about it, none of the quirkiness of humanity you think people should be looking for in something like it. It felt so disappointing they would do it because you do feel Ireland is somewhere where you feel creativity is traditionally valued.' The wider battle lines, he suggests, will be between creatives who say they own their copyright and should not be displaced by technology and lobbyists who say the development of AI is for the benefit of mankind. 'That's the struggle that's going on,' he says before outlining some of the defensive measures recommended in Bologna which involve not posting original images on social media, taking old ones down and using third-party applications and opt-outs to prevent scraping (web data extraction). Authors are also seeing their work mined without permission. The Irish Writers' Union has said it will take legal action against Meta if the Government cannot successfully intervene to have it, and other big tech firms, respect its members' copyright. [ Elon Musk sees humanity's purpose as a facilitator of superintelligent AI. That should worry us Opens in new window ] Another affected group are actors, with those providing dialogue to dub films into different languages already feeling the impact of the technology. Some international studios have sought to use AI instead of actors, says Gerry O'Brien, chair of actors' union Equity in Ireland, and the wider implications of the technology are quickly becoming apparent. 'The audio area is very difficult because there have been cases now where people's voices have been data mined then used without their permission. So an artist who would have a career in voiceovers might take a job which they are told is for an educational tool but they sign a total buyout contract, which is very difficult to break, and then find their voice has been data mined, sold on for voiceovers as an example of soft Irish or hard-sell Irish, whatever, and they're not getting any compensation.' Controlling the visual equivalent of this whereby a person's image is mapped to allow filmmakers to use them as extras in future productions with their knowledge was a key element in the agreement struck by US actors' union Sag-Aftra in 2023 that ended the high-profile dispute that halted so many productions that year. The same issues will form part of the continuing talks between Equity and producers' organisations here, O'Brien says, as regulation of AI is absolutely critical to protecting the incomes of actors working in Ireland. 'What was being talked about with Sag-Aftra was based on background performers being scanned, and they were just paid for the day they came in and got scanned, and then their avatar is created, and that was used throughout that film. 'So they only get one day as opposed to their full run of days on the film. So the deal put in clauses about a requirement for fully informed consent but also provisions for payments for the ongoing use of the avatar but it is a minefield,' he says. Even Dr Barry Scannell, a partner at William Fry who specialises in the area and is a member of the Government appointed AI Advisory Council, described sections of the Sag-Aftra deal as being akin to 'reading science fiction'. Scannell has a strong background in the music sector himself after a period working as director of legal affairs for the Irish Music Rights Organisation (Imro) and, consequently, with Cisac. 'I think when people think of artists, they think of someone appearing in the 3Arena, or the most famous photographers, whereas the majority of creatives are working people; they might have what people regard as nice jobs but they have a working day and they are trying to earn a living. 'I think it remains to be seen the full extent of the impact AI has on the music industry, but I think other creators and other creative sectors are going to be much more strongly impacted and earlier.' An advisory council working group he chaired recently suggested it was 'imperative the Government considers whether Ireland's copyright laws and licensing regimes are equipped to address AI disruption'. The technology, the group's document on the sector said, also has the potential to be a hugely powerful tool for artists. It said the Government should provide supports in relation to this but there is no getting away from the scale of the challenge for those currently employed and the potential for legal battles to come. 'My suspicion is that over the next few years there will be a huge amount of litigation around copyright, data, all of this. We just haven't quite got there yet,' he says, using the analogy of penguins on an iceberg surrounded by sea lions. 'Nobody wants to be the first to jump. These are questions that have never been asked of a court before. They are incredibly novel, involving really unique issues, even around jurisdiction: where did the infringement occur? Where is the service? Where is the server? What is a digital reproduction?' Accommodations, he suggests, will have to be found because there is not going to be any stopping the march of the technology. The best creatives can hope for is to shape the way it is applied. 'It took a long time to strike an equilibrium with streaming,' he says. 'It was hard fought. So there has to be a balance between commerciality and practicality. It has to be realistic but again, getting there may well be hard fought.'
The Journal
01-05-2025
- Business
- The Journal
Commuters need minimum of €2.50 on their Leap card to use rail services in new fare zones
ADULTS TRAVELLING ON Irish Rail now need a balance of at least €2.50 on their Leap card in order to use it. It comes with new fare zones introduced by Irish Rail that have expanded the area Leap cards can be used, now covering a 50km radius around Dublin. Until this week, Dublin passengers with short train journeys had been able to pay using their Leap Card but those from towns further away in the commuter belt needed to purchase a ticket. The new zones have been in place since Monday. Here's a reminder of how they work – and what they'll cost you. The Leap area is divided into four zones, which will have different fares applied. Transport for Ireland Transport for Ireland In Zone 1 , where train passengers were already eligible to pay with a Leap Card, the 90-minute fare will remain unchanged (€2 for Adult, €1 for Young Adult/Student and €0.65 for Child Leap Cards). Zone 2 will cover areas including Gormanston, Skerries, Kilcock, Sallins & Naas, Greystones and Kilcoole. The fare will cost €3.90 for an Adult, €1.95 for Young Adult/Student and €1.95 for Child Leap Cards. Advertisement Drogheda, Enfield, Newbridge and Wicklow Town will be included in Zone 3 and be charged €6 for an Adult, €3 for Young Adult/Student and €3 for Child Leap Cards. Zone 4 will be furthest from the city centre, covering areas like Kildare Town and Rathdrum at a cost of €7.50 for an Adult, €3.75 for Young Adult/Student and €3.75 for Child Leap Cards. Irish Rail Communications Manager Barry Kenny has explained that the new fares largely won't be reducing costs in Zone 2 but that there will be decreases for those living further out in Zones 3 and 4. Train travel between Dublin Connolly and Newbridge, for example, costs €9.85, while getting from Dublin Heuston to Kildare Town costs €9.75. The weekly cap for travel in all four zones for an Adult Leap Card is €67.20 'We're encouraging all customers who use the Leap Card to make sure to touch on and touch off for your journey, so that you aren't charged a higher fare than you're due,' Kenny said, speaking on RTÉ Radio One last week. He said that cash fares are also available for the journeys but that 'Leap will always be the cheaper option'. Changes to monthly and annual tickets will be applied 'on people's next renewal of those'. With reporting by Lauren Boland Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
