SERIOUS concerns over children’s safety at a national school in County Limerick were voiced in the Seanad by Sinn Féin senator Joanne Collins.
Speaking in the Upper House, Senator Collins revealed how there is no pedestrian crossing outside Dromcollogher NS or none of those “lovely coloured crayon bollards” for children to exit the school safely.
Located on a main route from Newcastle West to Cork, the road outside the school sees families facing down speeding trucks and cars, along a dangerous stretch, during the perilous drop-off.
Ahead of the Easter break, the Limerick Post visited Dromcollogher National School, which currently has 75 pupils, to experience firsthand the issues parents and children brave during the school run.
This reporter didn’t have to wait long for the concerns to be highlighted, watching parents chaperone children from cars, parked at the kerb, to school gate, with cars and trucks whizzing by.
On top of vehicles driving at speed, making the drop-off difficult enough, parents also have to deal with tailgating drivers with little or no patience, never mind consideration for children’s safety.
Soon after I arrive at the school, I am joined by Senator Collins who tells me that this road, at the edge of the village, sees drivers pick up speed when heading towards Dromcollogher NS.
“You’ll have haulage trucks, agricultural vehicles with big machinery, lorries and cars coming by here, but they go at speed. People tend to pick up a little bit more speed when they see that they’re coming out of a village, and as you see, we have no speed ramps, and we have no pedestrian crossing with amber beacons. There is nothing there visually to tell somebody that there is a school coming up,” Senator Collins points out.
“It’s about making drivers more conscious. I see in other schools where they put down those fabulous crayon bollards, so motorists are visually aware. They see the crayons and know that means there’s a school, so slow down a little bit,” she insists.
Principal of Dromcollogher NS, EibhlÃn Nash, tells me the school has had several “near misses”but, thankfully, no one seriously injured to date. However, she admits they have been “living on the edge of something bad for years” as they do their best to prevent a serious accident from taking place.
“Cars are double parked up along the road in the morning and afternoon, and motorists then start overtaking them because they can’t stop in time. In June last year, we had a wing mirror on a car hit and it flew in over the wall, just as the kids were coming out, and it shattered into loads pieces. Thankfully, nobody was hit or injured. But, I suppose, we’re just kind of living on the edge of something bad for years, trying to prevent it,” Ms Nash explained.
“Traffic is getting faster, significantly, and we just feel like we’re stuck in a position where we definitely need ramps or some sort of change in surface or something to draw attention to the fact that there is a school on the approach.”
One parent of children at the school, Adrian Cahill, described the current situation outside the school as “extremely dangerous”.
“If you’re taking a child out the driver’s side, you’re straight onto a road. You’re also parked here at the kerb where you could be hit from behind. It’s extremely dangerous. There’s no speed ramps anywhere,” he said.
Senator Collins called on Government to release funding for active travel and safety measures in County Limerick schools and to stop putting all taxpayers money back into cities.
“The children out in the county deserve just as much as what the children in the city deserve. We need the amber flashing beacons at every primary school. Help make it safer for them. I just think we’re lacking fairness when it comes to funding,” she concluded.
– Local Democracy Reporting Scheme