Principals plea for development of safety measures near two Ennis schools rejected by Council

The Ennis Municipal District (EMD) has said they cannot commit to delivering safety measures close to two local schools following pleas from principals that this be treated as a matter of “critical child safety.”

In a meeting of the EMD, Councillors Clare Colleran Molloy and Antoinette Baker Bashua brought forward a Notice of Motion regarding the Quin Road footpath to the site at Ballaghboy. 

Following on from visits to both the Holy Family Senior National School and Holy Family Junior School as well as correspondence received from these principals, the two Councillors called on the MD to deliver immediate interim safety measures such as warning signage, reduced speed limits or temporary walkways. They also want to see the development of a permanent footpath solution. 

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In their own words, the principals of the Holy Schools also expressed the “deep concerns” they have for the children who walk this route daily. 

“Every morning at approximately 8:30am during peak traffic, young children from the Ballaghboy Halting Site must walk nearly 700 meters along a busy stretch of road with no footpath, from the site to Jonno’s Bar. There is no safe walking infrastructure to protect them from fast-moving vehicles,” the motion read. 

Going further, the principals said this road is known to be dangerous, with two staff members previously being involved in “serious traffic accidents” on that same stretch in the recent past. 

“The situation is not only dangerous; it is untenable. In our view, the children’s current journey to and from school is an imminent accident waiting to happen,” the principals concluded. 

In a written reply to this Notice of Motion, A/Senior Engineer Patrick Tiernan said that the Ennis Municipal District fully acknowledges the concerns raised and appreciates the “genuine worry” demonstrated by the school principals. 

He said members of the EMD will be aware that they receive a significant number of requests each year for new footpaths, active travel infrastructure and road safety improvements. It was also noted that these requests are assessed carefully on their merits but not all can be accommodated. 

“Having considered the project proposed (indicative costs are approximately €350,000 plus land costs)  in the context of all possible road safety projects and funding availability we cannot, unfortunately, commit to this project at this time. We will, however, continue to review the options and measures to address the concern,” Mr Tiernan stated.