'Someone will die' - Galway dad's warning after coming within inches of losing son
He said his son was ‘extremely lucky’
A Galway father has called for urgent action to protect children cycling to school after his ten-year-old son fell from a narrow footpath into the path of an oncoming car.
Tom Barry, from Tonabrucky, said he came within inches of losing his son John after the boy lost his balance while trying to negotiate a lamppost on the journey home from Bushypark National School last Thursday.
“There is only one outcome: someone is going to be killed,” Mr Barry told Galway Live.
Mr Barry was cycling behind his three sons when he saw John wobble.
“I was worried he was going to fall, so I came off the footpath on the bike,” he said.
John fell into the road as a car was passing. Mr Barry moved across to shield him.
“The car was beside me. It was passing as it happened. He would have been hit,” he said.
He said the driver was not speeding, but John was “extremely lucky”.
“He was in hysterics afterwards,” he said.
In a written appeal to public representatives, Mr Barry said: “I came within an inch of losing my second boy.”
He is calling for simple physical segregation, such as bollards, along the route while longer-term improvements are developed.
“Please protect my children, please put in simple segregation, nothing fancy – just bollards to segregate the cars from the bikes,” he wrote.
The family cycles from Tonabrucky along Ballagh Road, onto the N59 and up Circular Road. Mr Barry said heavy traffic forces the children onto narrow footpaths, with lampposts creating further obstacles.
He has also highlighted the lack of a footpath on Ballagh Road, which he says has become a busy “rat run”.
Sharing photographs from this morning’s school run, he said: “The lads navigating around the pole is where John fell going the other direction last week.”
Another photograph shows the boys stopped behind traffic on Ballagh Road.
“It is chaos in the morning due to being a rat run,” Mr Barry said. “They are having to navigate aggressive driving along that road every morning – people overtaking and cutting in suddenly when they can see the traffic stopped ahead of them.
“This is a city road!”
Mr Barry said parents had repeatedly raised concerns about the roads surrounding Bushypark National School, including at public meetings.
A former chair of the parents’ association and member of the school’s board of management, he said the school had no control over traffic or parking outside its boundary.
He also questioned why families should have to rely on cars to make the school journey safely.
“My wife needs the car to drive to work in Athenry. Do I need to afford another car to be safe? Does everyone have to own a car to get somewhere safely?” he asked.
While calling for greater awareness among motorists, he said the problem could not be solved by blaming individual drivers.
“We should never be in competition with each other. Segregate the cars from the bikes,” he said.
Galway Live contacted Galway City Council’s Active Travel Department and was awaiting a response at the time of going to press. Mr Barry, who cycles to ATU daily, described cycling in Galway as “taking your life into your hands”.
He is also calling for a segregated route linking Glenlo and Dangan, with onward access towards the city, as well as improvements on Letteragh Road and Clybaun Road.
Cllr Eddie Hoare has offered to cycle the route with Mr Barry, who is urging other councillors to experience the conditions themselves.
“Come on the bike with me and then you’ll get to see what we’re faced with,” he said.
Mr Barry is considering a protest and has warned: “This will be an election issue.”