Rail Network
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-12
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Ryan O'Meara (FF), Tipperary North

In his answer the Minister of State touched on a number of points I had intended to raise. There are the issues concerning the amount of time it takes to travel the line or the limitations on the speed of trains in the line. The first is level crossings and the second the signalling system, which is not out of the past century but the century before that. Some Members in the House might know but the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis is on this coming Saturday, and it will be 100 years old on 15 May. One hundred years ago, when Countess Markievicz, Eamon de Valera, Seán Lemass and others were planning the foundation of Fianna Fail, the signalling system on the Ballybrophy line was not new technology then, and yet we are still using that technology today. The answer to the issues facing the Ballybrophy line is investment. It is serious investment, but it is long-term investment with a long-term vision for north Tipperary and commuter accessibility to north Tipperary.
The argument for many years for people in Birdhill, Nenagh, Roscrea and Cloughjordan was about keeping the line open because there was so much discussion about closing it. That argument is over. It is done. The line is open and it is not going anywhere, but the argument now has to be on future investment and future viability of the line. It is only viable with major investment from the Government. We have to have ambition for our future and ambition for the future of north Tipperary. There is major potential for commuter transport in north Tipperary out of Birdhill, Nenagh, Roscrea and Cloughjordan. Nenagh is already a satellite town of Limerick. Roscrea has huge potential to be that and so much more. Birdhill is already close to Limerick and Cloughjordan, while being a rural village, has major sustainability principles with the eco-village there. However, Irish Rail has said it is going to invest massively over the coming 25 years, with billions going into the rail infrastructure across this country. In north Tipperary, Nenagh, Cloughjordan, Roscrea and Birdhill deserve their fair share of investment in our regional line.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-12/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-12