Gardaí were called to Thurles train station last night after a passenger on the Dublin – Cork service refused to wear a face mask.
It’s understood he was asked a number of times by Irish Rail staff to wear face covering which is now compulsory on public transport in a bid to curtail the spread of Covid-19.
Joe Seward was there when the incident happened at around 8.30pm.
“They approached the man with a steward from Irish Rail and challenged him about not wearing a mask.”
“At the crux of the matter was the fact that he refused to provide any identification and eventually they took him off the train.”
“The whole thing took a few minutes – they were quite firm and quite rigid in their approach.”
Joe Seward says the number of people wearing face masks has increased noticeably of late.
“I’ve been on that Cork – Dublin route a few times this week and I spoke to the steward afterwards and he told me 203 people left Heuston Station on the train and that bar that gentleman and one other person who had a valid reason, everybody else was wearing a mask.”
