A month after we thought we were saying farewell for good, the poor 46A is still traversing Dublin city, handbag in hand and mortified about all the fuss
'When the 46A ceases to operate I will be saying a little personal goodbye to a precious teenage memory.' Photograph: Enda O'Dowd
It feels like a very Irish thing to have done, to have a big, sad 2024 farewell party for a beloved bus route only for it to continue lumbering acrossIt’s a bit like when you make a big song and dance about leaving a party and do a round of hugs and a scattershot of promises to meet up soon only to have to slink back into the sittingroom you so dramatically departed from to get your handbag.
Bagatelle said they have no plans to change the lyrics from their 1980 hit Summer in Dublin. “When my hummin’ was smothered by a 46A and the scream of a low-flying jet” might not have the same ring if the bus number is substituted for “E2″, which is one of two new spine routes due in the next Bus Connects phase.
Deirdre had us coached on how to get in and out of town: “Just get the 10 or the 46A.” I recited “10 or the 46A” to myself so many times that I suspect it may be imprinted in my DNA. Together we took either bus from Donnybrook into town each day and headed off to our respective placements. I was fully channelling Melanie Griffiths in Working Girl as I strode towards the museum, a busy and important career girl at just 15 in a pair of low-rise jeans and platform runners.
The number 10 was retired in 2010 and its route was covered by the 46A and the 39A. When the 46A ceases to operate I will be saying a little personal goodbye to a precious teenage memory and those first feelings of freedom and adulthood. Yes, it’s just a bus but it’s iconic for a reason. I’m all for progress, particularly when it services the city, its people and our environment, but it’s okay to feel emotions for the idea of a thing.
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