Mullingar town bus service

The new town bus service for Mullingar launches tomorrow, Sunday February 22.

Sixth bus attempt in 26 years

Mullingar town bus service

Published: Sat 21 Feb 2026, 1:00 PM

Eilís Ryan

Twenty years ago, in the edition of March 5, 2006, a page 2 item in this newspaper stated: ‘Bus Éireann town service closer than ever’.

The item opened with the assertion that while it might be less than seven months since the last local link bus service around the town of Mullingar floundered, that latest failure hadn’t stopped Bus Éireann pressing ahead with their plans to develop a service.

“Following two meetings between Westmeath County Council and representatives of Bus Éireann in relation to the possibility of developing a local link bus service for Mullingar, Bus Éireann have now made a formal submission to the Department of Transport on the issue and are currently awaiting a decision,” wrote journalist Sharon Newman, stating that the news had been revealed at the monthly meeting of Mullingar Town Council the previous Thursday night, February 23, following a question from Cllr Mick Dollard, who sought an up-to-date position on the provision of a local link service.

“I am delighted to hear that response. We should write to the Department of Transport to show that we are very supportive of this venture,” the Mullingar councillor suggested.

The proposals were welcomed by Westmeath County Council official, Gerry Lambden, who felt that it would be good to indicate the town council’s support.

The report went on to state that Mullingar had already had a number of attempts to provide a town bus service, both of which crashed or burned shortly after their launches. The most recent of those had been launched the previous August (2005), but made its final run after just 14 days on the road.

The service had been warmly welcomed in the town, but that welcome did not translate into actual usage, in spite of its regular service. The bus made hourly departures from Mullingar Railway Station all day, six days a week.

But some felt that a weakness in the service was that the bus did not cover the Lakepoint, D’Alton Park or Ginnell Terrace areas; and also that it did not travel out either to Lakepoint Commercial Park or to Lidl.

Westmeath County Council was to follow up the matter with Bus Éireann to see if a decision by the department was any closer.

More than a decade later, in the edition of October 21, 2017, the Westmeath Examiner revisited the long and troubled history of town bus services in Mullingar.

That report noted that at least five previous attempts had been made to establish a town service, with the most recent effort having “died a death” eight years earlier due to what was described as red tape. The 2017 article recalled that Westmeath County Council had driven plans for a service due to begin in September 2008, running from Greenpark to Lidl on the Old Dublin Road. However, councillors were informed in July 2009 that licensing issues and concerns from the Department of Transport about council subsidies had stalled the proposal. The service was to have been operated by Farrelly Coaches of Longford.

Earlier efforts were also charted. In August 2005, German architect Thomas Rasche, working in Mullingar, teamed up with O’Brien Coaches to launch the ‘Hub Bus’ service, but it folded after just two weeks. Mr Rasche later suggested that it failed to attract enough commuters.

In April 2004, Rover Coaches launched a service operating from 8am to 6pm on a three-loop circuit taking in the cinema, the tobacco factory, Greenpark and the hospital.

In February 2003, Bus Éireann had examined the possibility of introducing an urban service in Mullingar, with two or four routes.

Going back further still, the summer of 2000 saw the launch of the ‘Local Link’ service, initially operating from Robinstown to Newtown Lawns. A second route serving the Grange area was added a month later, and there were plans for a third route on the eastern side of town. It lasted just three months.