‘His head touched the wheel – and the passengers erupted’

14:54, 06 Jul 2026Updated 16:17, 06 Jul 2026

Passengers left the bus and stood on a grass verge on the motorway(Image: Google)

What should have been a day of fun and excitement turned into an evening of terror for a coachload of Cork hurling fans, who were forced to stand on a motorway verge when their driver pulled over after driving erratically and seeming to “nod off” at the wheel.

The coach company involved, Citylink, has now confirmed to CorkBeo that they are investigating the incident. It’s understood Gardaí also responded to the scene after getting several calls from terrified passengers, who told CorkBeo it was a ‘very scary’ ordeal that went on for nearly three hours after they left Dublin.

Almost 70 passengers boarded the Citylink coach just after 6pm on Saturday evening after the Cork hurlers lost their semi-final match with Galway in Croke Park.

CorkBeo spoke to a passenger, who would prefer not to use her real name, about the terrifying ordeal she experienced. The woman – whom we’ll call Laura – was in Dublin with her mother and sisters, aged 11 and 17, for a theatre show: “We were the only ones not wearing jerseys.”

Laura explained that the coach was almost packed as it set off from Dublin: “It was a 70-seater, and there were only two seats free. Traffic in Dublin was bumper-to-bumper, but something seemed wrong as soon as we got onto the open road at Portlaoise.”

Here, Laura said, the coach started to drift over the lines and bumping on cats’ eyes, with the driver having to make several lurching emergency stops. But it was around three hours later, as the coach neared Cork city, that the driver was allegedly seen to nod off at the wheel.

Laura said: “We were in the middle of the coach, and I was just looking out the window – when I saw the bus veering towards the exit towards Glanmire. But we were too close – we were going to hit the barrier. The passengers at the front of the bus erupted then, shouting, ‘He’s fallen asleep.'”

The driver then brought the coach to a full stop, insisting to the passengers that he was fine and hadn’t fallen asleep, pointing to the cameras to show there would be evidence he was alert.

Laura continued: “We were all in shock, so when he took off driving again, everyone locked in. I was watching him in the mirror now. The driver tried to put on his sunglasses, but people started shouting, ‘Take off your sunglasses.’

“He did, and I could see that his eyes were bloodshot. It was only three or four minutes – maybe two kilometres – before his head touched the wheel and passengers erupted again.”

Laura added that it took a whole “20 to 30 seconds” before the driver fully regained alertness, with the bus continuing to veer while cars overtook in the fast lane: “The screams from the children were horrifying.”

The driver pulled over again, and this time “everyone ran off the bus.” Laura said: “Strangers were grabbing each others’ hands to help each other off. There was a teenage girl behind me hyperventilating; I took her hand and led her off.”

The driver reportedly continued to insist that he was fine, and even allegedly intended to drive off, leaving more than 60 passengers stranded on the side of the M8 near Dunkettle – until one passenger told him, “You’re still responsible for these people.” The driver then rang for a replacement coach.

In the meantime, “a bunch of the passengers” rang the Gardaí. Some 40 minutes later, a replacement coach arrived – but many passengers, including Laura and her family, had sourced their own lifts home, with “nine or ten cars” turning up to pick up friends and family members.

Laura added that, according to some of those who stayed for the replacement coach, the Gardaí still hadn’t arrived by the time they were back on the road – and the tired driver drove his own empty coach into Cork himself, directly in front of the replacement vehicle.

Laura said that her previous experiences with Citylink and other coach services have all been straightforward and comfortable – but that the incident on Saturday has had an emotional impact on one of her sisters: “We’re going to a concert in Limerick this week, and I had a coach booked – but my 17-year-old sister asked me, “Will you drive instead?”‘

CorkBeo reached out to Citylink for comment. A spokesperson said: “We are aware of concerns relating to our 18:30 Route 707 service from Cork to Dublin on Saturday 4 July. Following a review of CCTV footage and vehicle telematics, we are confident that the driver provided a safe journey. CCTV footage clearly shows that at no point during the service did the driver fall asleep.

“During the journey, the driver received a number of questions and requests from passengers, and this resulted in the driver bringing the vehicle to a safe stop and following the appropriate procedures by requesting operational support. A replacement vehicle was subsequently dispatched to complete the journey.”

CorkBeo has also reached out to Gardaí for comment.

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