DUBLIN City Council has rejected calls from hundreds of parents for a traffic warden outside a busy Northside Irish school.
The council says it hopes to be able to find money in its budget to install bollards near the gates of Gaelscoil Ui Earcain in Finglas but officials don’t believe there’s enough traffic to merit a warden.
Council officials carried out a footfall count in September and determined that there wasn’t enough pedestrian traffic to justify a warden.
However, parents claim the low footfall count is down to them being afraid to allow their children to walk to the school because of dangerous traffic and reckless parking.
A tarmac area directly in front of the school on Glasonan Road is being used by a number of parents as a drop-off point while others mount the pavement to park. And despite pleas from school management, it continues to be a problem.
Wendy O’Connor, who has two boys attending the school, says the situation is getting worse.
“It’s very dangerous; it’s a busy road and it’s pretty much on a junction with two other busy roads,” she told Northside People.
“The school is constantly growing as well. In a couple of years there could be more than 400 pupils here. The volume of traffic is only going to go up. Obviously, the more students there is, the busier it gets.”
Parents have been in touch with local gardaí and hope they’ll place cones outside the school as a temporary measure until bollards can be put in place.
However, the parents believe there’s a real need for a traffic warden to help the children walk to school safely.
“We realise people have to park but how can we encourage the kids to walk if it’s not safe?” Wendy asked.
Local councillor Cathleen Carney Boud (SF) also expressed concern at risks posed to Gaelscoil Ui Earcáin pupils and recently presented a petition of 427 signatures from parents, teachers and residents to the council.
She also submitted a motion calling for the urgent installation of bollards at the school andprovision of a traffic warden.
“At the moment the area around Gaelscoil Ui Earcáin isn’t safe enough for children walking to school,” she said.
“This is a bus route with heavy traffic passing at peak times and little or no parking available for dropping kids off – it’s chaotic.
“If the school was to encourage a ‘walk to school’ programme it would ultimately put children’s safety at risk, which is simply not acceptable.
“Bollards at the school entrance would help but a traffic warden is needed also.
“The council has said there are not sufficient numbers of children crossing the road to warrant a warden. I question this policy and ask the council how many children does it think need to be at risk?”
Dublin City Council confirmed it had received a traffic control petition from parents and had carried out a study.
“Following a review of the study we hope to be in a position to install bollards at this location under our current budget allocation,” a spokesperson said.