Parents to stage protest after boy hit by car

PARENTS of schoolchildren in Blackrock are planning to stage a protest march to the offices of the local county council if action is not taken to address safety issues on a road where a boy was knocked down and injured recently.

The six-year-old child was knocked down and badly injured in the incident outside Booterstown National School on Cross Avenue.

According to a member of the Parent Teacher Association at the school, the boy was rushed to hospital with serious head injuries.

He has only recently been released from hospital and is expected to make a return to school. But the incident has highlighted what parents say has been an ongoing concern for years.

“This was the accident that was waiting to happen,

? said Helen Duignan.

“That little boy was very, very lucky. He was in intensive care for six days, which is a very long time.

“He has made a recovery but it just highlighted what we have been saying for a long time: that there are inadequate safety measures in place on what is a very busy road.

?

According to Ms Duignan, as well as the almost 100 children at the national school, there are hundreds more attending various other schools and colleges in the area.

After the little boy was knocked down, the parents and children of the school staged a protest on Cross Avenue.

“The protest was against the council’s repeated refusal to provide adequate road signage, lollipop staff and ramps on Cross Avenue, which is one of the busiest roads for school children in the entire country,

? Ms Duignan explained.

“Despite numerous requests for work to be done and after a number of near misses in the past, there are still inadequate measures on the road.

“If this continues we will stage a protest march to the council’s offices to highlight the dangers.

?

Cllr Victor Boyhan said he was

“inundated

? with demands for a lollipop service after the pupil was injured on the road outside the national school’s gate.

“St Philip & St James Church of Ireland National School (which shares the site with the national school) on Cross Avenue must be provided with a school lollipop person immediately,

? Cllr Boyhan said.

“The Church of Ireland Rector Rev Gillian Wharton has informed me that the school’s board of management, the Parent Teacher Association, and the Select Vestry of the Parish have repeatedly asked for measures to be introduced on Cross Avenue to make it a safer place, particularly for children, given the number of schools in the area.

“I want to assure the management of the parish and the school that I will work with the council’s transport executive to put in place additional measures to improve the safety for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists on Cross Avenue.

?

A spokesperson for Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council said they could not comment while a Garda investigation into the incident was ongoing.