{"id":399986,"date":"2026-04-15T16:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T16:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/399986\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T16:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T16:10:09","slug":"limerick-coach-operator-pulls-out-of-schoolbus-run-due-to-cost-of-fuel-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/399986\/","title":{"rendered":"Limerick coach operator pulls out of schoolbus run due to cost of fuel \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A well known coach operator said he has pulled out of 13 schoolbus runs because the cost of fuel and tax<\/a> on fuel were crippling his business.<\/p>\n

Paudie Kenneally, Kenneally Coach Hire, Newcastle West, Limerick said: \u201cI\u2019m not going to go bankrupt to cover school runs for Bus \u00c9ireann or anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel sorry for our kids using our service, but this is now a race to the bottom, and I won\u2019t be working like that,\u201d added Kenneally.<\/p>\n

Asked what he would say to parents and pupils who require school transport, he replied: \u201cLook, that is the heartbreaking part of it, I am driving children all my life, my father before me, we\u2019re in the business 43 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI drive a lot of children with special educational needs, and autistic children who don\u2019t like change, who like to see the same bus driver – you\u2019d be mad about them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kenneally said he gave Bus \u00c9ireann prior notice that he would not operate the school routes beyond the Easter holidays,adding that a fuel support package unveiled by the Government would not change his mind.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Healy-Rae resignation: Foley expresses surprise, says no one in Government knew in advanceOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t need the stress and pressure of this anymore. It was very easy to make a decision to make, the numbers don\u2019t add up,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe operating costs are gone too high, and this 10 cent (reduction on excise duty on a litre of petrol, diesel) ) is only a waste of time, it will be evaporated straightaway.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest problem we have in Ireland is that the middle class are being squeezed, and the middle are paying everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said a 16.5 per cent cut to excise duty on private aircraft fuel<\/a> approved by the Government last month, was a kick in the teeth to everyone outside of that demographic group. \u201cIf you have a private jet or a helicopter are you worried about the price of fuel?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Limerick coach operator said he supported his neighbours, friends, colleagues and customers who took part in last week\u2019s blockade at a fuel terminal<\/a> at Foynes village.<\/p>\n

Kenneally said his late father, David Kenneally, who began their schoolbus service 43 years ago, would have made the same decision that he has now made: \u201cHe\u2019s like me, he\u2019s a figures man, one plus one has to make two.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kenneally, who employs 17 staff and operates a fleet of 25 buses, said he would continue to operate bus services for active retirement groups, tourists, HSE, and private hire services.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a terror to walk away from the school runs, I\u2019ve been driving second generation kids to school, it\u2019s very upsetting.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A well known coach operator said he has pulled out of 13 schoolbus runs because the cost of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[27801,171749,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-399986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-bus-eireann","tag-fuel-protests","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}