Mayo among three counties with no school traffic wardens

Newly compiled figures on school traffic warden employment across Ireland have revealed significant disparities between local authorities, with Mayo County Council confirming that it does not currently employ any school traffic wardens.

The data was sourced from responses to information requests issued to every county council by The Mayo News, indicating that while some authorities maintain sizeable and well-resourced warden services, others operate with limited or no provision. Several councils failed to meet the four-day response deadline, resulting in portions of the national overview as incomplete.

Dublin’s local authorities report the largest staffing of all county councils across Ireland. Dublin City Council employs 211 school traffic wardens and a further 29 reserve staff. It also confirmed that recruitment is conducted continuously. South Dublin County Council similarly lists 94 wardens and 24 relief staff with ongoing recruitment efforts. Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council reports 88 wardens, with no current recruitment underway. In Cork, the figures show 44 school traffic wardens supported by 12 relief staff, along with four vacant positions for which recruitment is currently underway.

Along with Mayo, the counties of Leitrim and Longford also report having no school traffic wardens, and none of the three are currently recruiting for the role.

In Mayo, the removal of the county’s only school traffic warden has sparked a petition at Scoil Phádraig, which sits on a busy national road opposite a well-trafficked filling station. Concerned about the high volume of daily traffic, both Scoil Phádraig and Holy Trinity National School are urging Mayo County Council to reinstate the traffic warden position at the N59 crossing, citing the safety and well-being of their school communities.

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Several councils operate smaller warden services, including: Sligo (10 wardens, 1 vacancy); Laois (7 wardens); Westmeath (6 wardens); Monaghan(4 wardens); Galway (4 wardens); Kildare (22 wardens); Limerick (25 in the city and 10 in the county, with 2 active vacancies) and Wicklow (19 wardens).