Epic 8-hour journey from Galway to Derry cited as challenge for students

The Galway-based Fine Gael Senator Aisling Dolan spoke from personal experience about the off-putting travelling she faced when she was a student herself.

"I studied in Coleraine and we talked a lot about transport on buses. It involved an eight-hour journey, with two buses, a train and another bus, to get from Ballinasloe to Galway, then to get a bus to Sligo and to go over to Derry, before travelling to Coleraine and Portstewart. Students do this," she said.

Senator Dolan told colleagues that many people cannot afford the costs of going to college 'whether because of rent or having to travel for hours on end'.