it has come to this!
 

This evening on the 1840 Enterprise from Belfast we arrived into Dundalk at 1955 more or less on schedule. There is a cow on the line three miles south so at 2040 we are still sitting in Dundalk Station waiting to clear the line. In any other country or in any other railway company would this happen? Who would care about the cow and the tosser of a farmer who owns her. The Enterprise has been fine; catering and service excellent as usual just let down by those who control the network.

Cows and trains don't mix http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polmont_rail_accident

Several hundred thousands of euro worth of damage was done to one of the new Dublin Cork trains when it struck a single cow, everyone was ok but it was a close thing

Safety must be the first priority, you would wonder why the bus in Drogheda waiting for you hasn't been sent up!

Lol a cow. I say fine the farmer many many yoyos to encourage them to fence their fields properly. That's unacceptable. In an ideal world you could just run over it but it would seem they don't mix.

There have been two derailments caused by cattle, from the top of my head.

The first was in the UK, on the Glasgow to Edinburgh line at Polmaddie. It involved a Push/Pull set.

The second, and more relevant to Ireland, took place with a Knock Pilgrimage Special in May 1989. 5 people were injured near Knockcroghery (seems to be an unlucky spot). Cattle wandered on to the line, as the special approached, and it derailed at 50 mph.

The Iarnrod Eireann of 2009 is different to 1989, in terms that it is more safety conscious. Many accomodation crossings have been removed. There is more fencing. But, there is no accounting for nature. Cows will go where they want, and rolling stock hitting a cow at even as little as 30mph will not be pretty.