'An accident waiting to happen' - parents call for return of lollipop man

The leaves have fallen, and the spooky Halloween costumes were out in force as children were dropped off at Scoil Phádraig and Holy Trinity on Thursday morning.

The removal of the school traffic warden is especially felt as the mornings get darker and the wet roads require longer braking distances.

As reported by The Mayo News, the busy junction sees more than 400 children, parents, and teachers make the crossing each morning.

One parent who does the school run describes the road as an “accident waiting to happen.”

Children in Halloween costumes walking to school in Scoil Phádraig

There has been a traffic warden since they went to the school in the 1980s, and the road “has gotten a lot busier since then.”
They are calling for a proactive response now, as opposed to reacting when something goes wrong.

The parent also highlights that a school traffic warden helps with traffic flow whilst managing the children crossing the road at regular intervals. At present, it’s a constant crossing at school time, creating traffic back up across the town (over the Mall, up Castlebar Street, up James Street, and the Newport Road).

Scoil Phádraig is actively promoting smarter travel, and the idea is to promote children walking to school by themselves or with their parents. One of the key infrastructure pieces is the pedestrian crossing at the school.

The school has smarter travel parking permits so that parents can park in James's Street car park and the Lidl car park and on the Mall for free in the mornings for 20 minutes to allow them and their children to walk to school.

Another parent, James McWilliams, drops off four of his children at school every morning.

Like all of the parents that The Mayo News has spoken to, he wants to see the return of the school traffic warden, as child safety is very important.

Exploring options?
Prior to the publication of The Mayo News article surrounding the absence of a school traffic warden, Mayo County Council stated that it was “ currently no longer in a position to provide a member of staff in the Westport Zone as a school traffic warden. The council is liaising with the principals of Scoil Phadraig and Holy Trinity Schools on this matter.”

Following on from the issue being raised at a local council meeting, Mayo County Council has since updated its position, saying it “continues to liaise with the principals of Scoil Phádraig and Holy Trinity Schools and is exploring options to address this matter.”

However, Holy Trinity School has told The Mayo News that it has “had no meaningful engagement with Mayo County Council at this stage, only an acknowledgement of our concerns.”

School principal Orla Brickenden is asking for the Council to “act responsibly and reinstate a traffic warden on the Newport Road, as the safety of children must be a priority for all. We reiterate that we have the utmost respect and regard for the traffic wardens, as they provide an excellent service in all weathers to keep our children safe.”

The school principal of Scoil Phádraig, Fergus Seoighe, told The Mayo News that lots of parents have raised the issue with him, and he wants to see the school traffic warden reinstated.

“We're dealing with children, and the safety of the children is the most important thing. It's very important that we get somebody back, because children are children, and with the best will in the world, they'll try to be careful crossing the road, but they do need that extra care of having somebody there. It is a very, very busy road."

He has been in contact with the Council and says that “I do think the council would like to have somebody back there, and I think they understand it.”

He was told that the person who previously filled the role of school traffic warden was unavailable and that the council was looking into other options.

One suggestion that has arisen in discussion with the council is the idea of a parent rota to help children at the busy crossing.
However, the school principal is not sure how practical that idea is, as he says, “With the best will in the world, parents are very, very busy. So while it might last for a short period, I don't know if it's something that could be sustainable, because people are very busy now, and the mornings especially are a very busy time. Most parents who might be able to do it are probably involved in the school run anyway, or at work. So I suppose it'd be a difficult one to sustain.”

While he hasn’t been in contact with the council for a number of weeks, he is optimistic that a solution will be found and says that “the people in the council - they're good people. I do think that they want to resolve this. I don't know exactly what the issues are, but hopefully we'll have it resolved soon. At the end of the day, we're all parents, and we just want our children to be protected.”

Despite sending a couple of emails in the meantime, he hasn’t heard any word back from the Council.

Mounting political pressure
When raised at the monthly meeting of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District, Westport councilors called for the reinstatement of a school traffic warden. Speaking on the matter, Cllr Brendan Mulroy said, “It has become an absolute death trap. I have heard the excuses, but there should be no excuses.

“The lollipop man has been there since I was a child, and that is a long time ago. I don't know how in the name of God they can take this person out at this moment in time, and health and safety go out the window. I want that person installed straight away. Something needs to happen as soon as possible,” he said.

When asked by Cllr Peter Flynn, the Cathaoirleach of the municipal district, if there was likely to be a resolution 'sooner rather than later', Head of the Municipal District, Seamus Ó Mongáin replied that is what they are trying to do at the moment.