In response to points made by On The Move and Train Traveller.
First On The Move asks "did they "need" to travel first clas at all?" There are two answers to this: one is "yes" and the second is "what an outrageous question!" The attitude behind this question is highly revealing: it perhaps explains why the concept of customer service is so absent in Irish pulbic transport. If there is a service provided at a premium price and I chose to spend my hard-earned money on it, how dare anyone question my "need"! It's my right and privelage, plain and simple.
Public transport in Ireland is largely foresaken by business people and the car-owining middle classes: one way of attracting them is to offer decent premium services. There are huge commecial reasons why a rail company should want to offer extra levels of comfort, peace and quiet, the opportinuty to do some work, the opportunity to have a decent meal, and so on.
A final comment which may have me branded as some sort of snob, but what the hell. Travelling by train on the Continent, I find that passenger behaviour is generally courteous and does not disturb one's enjoyment of the journey. In this country (and to some extent in the UK, although my experience of there is limited), the yob culture is often a factor which makes one wish for the peace and quiet of a premium carriage.
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