Great Northern Railway of Ireland Road Motor Service 1925-58

This welcome history focuses on the development of the Great Northern Railway of Ireland's road motor services which first appeared on the roads of the country, on both sides of the border in attempt to thwart the effects of the private bus competition which was severely damaging to GNR's revenues. It charts the way in which the railway company devised means to circumvent the difficulties posed by the partition of Ireland, in particular the imposition of draconian import duties in the Irish Free State. This resulted in the construction of GNR's own 'Gardner' buses through which it managed to convince Eamon de Valera's first Fianna Fail government that it was building its own buses in Dundalk, when in fact most parts were imported, often duty free, through Northern Ireland for assembly in Eire. It also illustrates how the company courted the governments of both north and south into agreeing legislative favours - behaviour which has rightly been described as 'mysterious and enigmatic'.