History: An Interview

KEEP ON TRACK – An Interview

(Q) How old is the Monasterevin Railway Station  

(A) The first train stopped in 1847 during the famine.

(Q)Do you know the name of the old train station?

(A)It was always called Monasterevin Railway Station or its Gaelic equivalent.

 (Q)When and why did the train station close?

 (A)1976, CIE said it wasn’t making money.

(Q) Do you believe it should have closed down and why?

(A) No because it would have helped the town to develop if we had good transport links in and out of the town.

(Q) How did it affect life in Monasterevin?

(A) It isolated the town. Not many families had cars in 1976 and the bus service was very poor at the time. This meant people couldn’t go out of the town to work, shop or to go to college.

(Q) What was the name of the group who protested to get the Monasterevin Train Station re-opened?

(A) The Monasterevin Railway Committee.   

(Q)How many people were involved in the protest?

(A)There was a committee of about 10 people. There was one major protest when 500 people marched from Mayfield to the Hazel Hotel ,slowing down traffic on the main N7 road.

(Q)Were there many debates about it?   

(A)There were many meetings locally, there were also many debates with CIE and Dail Eirean where the committee met senior CIE officials and ministers in the Dáil.

(Q)Did anyone get hurt protesting?

(A)No, it was a peaceful protest.

(Q)How long did it take to get the train station back?

 A)It re-opened in 2001 – 25 years it took to get it re-opened

(Q)Do you know any names of people that worked there?

(A)Joe Rosney and Mick Connelly worked in the old railway station

(Q)Do you know any names of the trains that go by?

(A)Trains have numbers rather than names. The 2600, 2700, 2900 and the newest 22000 railcars go through the station I believe.

Asked by Tommy Dempsey answered by Steven o Rourke !