The Bus is Coming! Transport Minister to address Kilkenny Seminar

Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht Jerry Buttimer TD will be in Kilkenny on Tuesday, November 18, to address a transport seminar - The Bus is Coming!

The seminar is organised by Kilkenny LEADER Partnership to share the results of its Lingaun Loop pilot and hear from other rural and EU transport initiatives.

“We need to come up with rural transport initiatives that improve the serious lack of mobility for rural residents, and we’re delighted that Minister Buttimer, who has responsibility for rural transport, is joining us,” says Declan Rice, CEO of Kilkenny LEADER Partnership Minister Buttimer will join representatives from rural transport organisations, local officials, other elected representatives, and community leaders for the event which will include a round table discussion on ways to improve rural connectivity in Ireland.

A particular focus will be the Lingaun Loop bus service, a rural transport initiative that ran during Summer 2025, providing a much-appreciated form of local transport as well and an opportunity for tourists to visit sites of historical importance on the Kilkenny/Tipperary border region.

Declan Rice, Kilkenny LEADER Partnership CEO, said the Transport Seminar is an opportunity to share the findings of the project with government and other interested parties- and hopefully have an influence on rural transport policy.

“The motivation behind the Lingaun Loop Research Action Project was two-fold – to demonstrate that you could successfully operate an orbital bus service that would link up with other conventional, fixed services, and that you could do it in a rural area and help rural tourism and rural mobility.

“We are very happy with what the Lingaun Loop achieved. We’ve learnt a lot and this event will allow us to share our findings with others.”
Those interested in attending the seminar should contact cleo.murphy@cklp.ie