Belmullet school to twin with Tasmanian school

Belmullet school to twin with Tasmanian school


Anton McNulty

OUR Lady’s Secondary School in Belmullet is set to twin with a secondary school in Tasmania – 15,000km away – after the local Government contacted Mayo County County about rolling out the road safety initiative created by the Erris No Name Club.
Last month, the Erris No Club launched the ‘1 4 Life’ road safety seminar which was designed by the teenagers of the club for teenagers. The members made a pledge to take responsibility for road safety and speak to those they considered to be driving unsafely. A unique element of the campaign is a text messaging service designed by members of No Name Club which will see young people text a ‘slow down’ message to their peers they feel are not driving responsibly.
The initiative was seen on the internet by Geoff Frier, the Project Manager of the Road Safety Partnership in the Tasmanian Government, who contacted his Mayo counterpart, Noel Gibbons, and expressed his desire to roll the iniatitive out to 25 local authorities in the former penal colony.
Edith Geraghty, the Erris No Name Club facilitator, said she thought she was getting an April Fool’s joke when she heard the news last week and added that the teenagers in the club were delighted.
She said that Mr Frier said he was currently working with secondary schools in the capital, Hobart, and it was suggested that a Tasmanian school twin with Our Lady’s Secondary School in Belmullet.
“He was very impressed by the idea of a programme designed by teenagers for teenagers as it has never been done before. It was suggested that we twin schools and have e-conferences on road safety and when we contacted Our Lady’s, they were all for it. I am always telling them that they can change the world, now we have the proof that they can,” she said.