Lobby group calls for €14bn Apple windfall tax to restore rail to Letterkenny

Lobby group ‘Into The West’ have launched a campaign calling for a rail link to Letterkenny to be made a priority project for the Irish government’s new €14bn ‘Apple Windfall Tax’ fund.

In September the EU’s Court of Justice ruled that American technology giant Apple had received illegal tax advantages from the Irish State, and ordered the company to pay €14bn in back-dated taxes to Dublin. That money will reach the Irish Treasury in two chunks – with €8bn due this year and €6.1bn in 2025.   

In this week’s budget, Finance Minister Jack Chambers declared that the unexpected windfall will be invested solely in four key aspects of infrastructure—water, electricity, housing, and transport—with the objective of  "ensuring the future development of our society.” 

READ MORE: Small earthquake recorded off Donegal coast

A government report will be released early in 2025 to outline which projects will receive funding from this windfall fund.

In July of this year the ‘All-Island Strategic Rail Review’ was published, which included a recommendation that rail be restored to Letterkenny. 

As a result - there is now a government strategy which agrees that Donegal should have trains again. The Rail Review proposes connecting Letterkenny to a newly reopened Derry-Portadown route, which would enable direct services from the northwest of the island to both Dublin and Belfast. 

However, the rail strategy has proposed that the Letterkenny section should only open after Derry-Portadown has been restored - which Into The West fears could be 20 to 30 years from now. They’re therefore calling for the 35km rail link between Letterkenny and Derry city (with potential halts at places like Manorcunningham and Newtoncunningham) to be expedited and delivered this decade – by making it one of the transport projects funded from the €14bn Apple windfall fund.

Into The West has written to the Transport Minister and every councillor, TD and MEP representing Donegal to make the case for Letterkenny’s rail link to be fast-tracked in this way. They hope to meet with Ministers and elected representatives shortly in an attempt to push the issue to the top of the political agenda. And they are particularly keen to see it become an issue locally in the forthcoming General Election.   

Chair of Into The West, Steve Bradley, commented: “The last time a train visited Letterkenny was 1953 when the town had a population of only 4,000 people. Seventy-one years later, Letterkenny is one of the fastest-growing large towns on this island. Its current population of 22,500 increased by 17% between 2016 and 2022 and is expected to reach almost 30,000 by 2040. It is also a very car-dominated town, with a level of congestion you would only expect to find in much larger places. Letterkenny is part of the North-west City Region, along with Derry and Strabane - and the highest concentration of cross-border commuting on the island occurs between North-East Donegal and Derry City every day, with 38% of all cross-border trips happening there. Yet the vast majority of those journeys take place by car because of limited bus options and the complete absence of rail. Finally - Derry’s Altnagelvin Hospital is the designated Cancer Centre for Donegal; both Derry and Letterkenny have growing universities that are undergoing continual expansion; and 40% of the passengers who use City of Derry Airport are travelling to or from Donegal. There is therefore a clear need to better connect the two main towns in the North-West City Region - for work, study, healthcare, shopping, social events and travel. Yet almost all of those journeys are currently reliant upon private cars – creating congestion, pollution and emissions, whilst limiting the opportunities of those who are unable to drive or who can’t afford a car”. 

Mr Bradley continued “The All-Island Rail Strategy has acknowledged the need for trains to return to Donegal, and has recommended a link from the proposed Derry-Portadown line to Letterkenny. However – it also assumes that Letterkenny should only get its rail connection back after the Derry-Portadown route has been restored. This places Donegal’s rail future entirely at the mercy of Stormont – an institution which has proven to be politically unstable, strategically indecisive, and financially restricted. At best this current sequencing is likely to mean that Donegal won’t see trains again for another 20 to 30 years. And at worst, it could mean that rail doesn’t return here at all. Donegal’s infrastructure future is just too important to be left dependent upon the fortunes of Stormont”.

Mr Bradley concluded “That’s why we’re calling for a small portion of the €14bn Apple Windfall Tax to be used to link Letterkenny and Derry by rail as soon as possible. It would require less than 4% of the available windfall fund but would do so much to end Donegal’s isolation and promote greater regional balance. It would also help boost economic activity and population growth across the North-West City Region, by binding its two largest towns closer together and giving them the infrastructure they need to attract new jobs and workers.

"And it would give people a choice over what transport mode to use for each journey – freeing them from the necessity to always drive, whilst reducing congestion, emissions and road danger as a result. If the government wants to show that it takes the transport needs of Donegal and the North-West seriously, then it’s time to start giving the county back its rail”.          

Into The West is calling on everyone who would like to see rail return to Donegal to raise the Apple Windfall Tax with their elected representatives, north and south, and to demand that it be used to bring trains back to Letterkenny. They are also asking political parties across the region to ensure that their election manifestos include a commitment to use the windfall fund to reconnect Letterkenny to the rail network – with a plan to begin construction before the end of this decade.