The woman, a mother of four adult children, said she is stuck in her house six out of seven days every week and said she cries ‘every day’ because of loneliness.
Her son, who is living in Sligo, calls to her once a week and brings her to do her shopping.
The lady wrote a handwritten letter to Ireland AM during the week and television presenters Muireann O’Connell, who said she cried after reading her letter, and Tommy Bowe reflected on the plight of people living in isolated regions in the country.
Muireann told viewers: “We received a letter yesterday from a lady who has lived in Co Leitrim for the last 50 years.
“She has raised four children, three of whom have emigrated and one is now living in Sligo and she finds herself ‘extremely isolated’, mainly because of the lack of public transport.”
Sharing a few lines from the lady’s handwritten letter, the woman said: “I am stuck in my house six out of the seven days every week.
“My son comes from Sligo one day a week to drive me to do my weekly shop.
“With no corner shop nearby, I freeze basics like bread and milk.
“My minor road takes lorries and tractors, surely it could take a local bus.
She goes on to say: “I envy city people. They complain about missing a bus. In rural county Leitrim, we would be very grateful to have one.
“I cry from loneliness almost every day.
“My children call often, but won’t return to Ireland because of housing costs and poor rural transport kept them away.
“The nearest large town to me is Longford, I would love to visit just one day per week. It’s not a lot to ask,” she pointed out.
Joining Muireann and Tommy for the segment were Aisling O’Rourke, Communications Coach and Professor Brian Caulfied.
Professor Caulfield made the point that 35% of our population live in rural parts.
He said that when you go into that area, the point the lady made in the letter was about a local shop.
He said that there are only 38% of people in Ireland who are a fifteen minute walk away from a local shop.
“That then causes all of these knock-on impacts, like the day-to-day conversations that lady would have with her local community.
“Those kind of things aren’t happening.
“There is a plan called Connecting Ireland and this was launched by the NTA back in 2021 and the part of that plan is to connect Ireland, to have much more rural public transport services.
“Since 2021 there have been 150 new or improved services right across the country.
“Last year they saw on a weekly basis, they were getting 100,000 people using the new Local Link services.
“It depends on where you are in terms of the frequency of them.
“Last month, the Minister did launch a new service on Achill called ‘Anseo’.
“So basically it’s an app where you go onto and book it ahead. The maximum cost is €3.
“That does give mobility for people in Achill and this is a pilot for a year.
“But that pilot needs to be rapidly brought out.”
Ms O’Rourke said: “There might be a Local Link service to your nearest village, but you need a lift to get to the nearest village to get the bus into the nearest town.
“It’s just as handy to hop in the car, if you have a car.
“It’s all of these extra barriers, even from a communications perspective, some people don’t know how to avail of the Local Link if they’re not accustomed to using it.
“I was speaking to people yesterday who have to cross county boundaries for commuting.
“Because they need to cross the county boundary, they can’t use the Local Link.”
She continued: “If you do have a good train service in your county, like there are some counties that don’t have a train service, but if you have a train service, when you get to the train station, there’s no bus that automatically meets that train on arrival in most places.
“You get into the train station and then you walk into the town or you have to get a taxi.
“We’re calling it Connecting Ireland and the idea is wonderful, but we’re not yet seeing connection across public transport services.”