Traumatised fatal bus crash survivors return to school

SOME of the survivors of Tuesday's horror school bus accident near Clara, Co Offaly, were yesterday back at school and grieving the 15-year-old colleague who died in the freak smash.

Michael White will be buried tomorrow after noon Mass in his local St Bridget's Church, Clara, but yesterday pupils at Presentation Secondary School, Killina, met with counsellors in the school to discuss their feelings after the trauma of the previous day.

Thirty-four students were in the bus when it flipped over onto its roof on a bog road between Clara and Killina. An investigation continues to see if the smash was caused by the back axle becoming detached from the bus.

"The school will remain open all this week on the strong recommendation of the counsellors," said Seamus Boland, chairman of the school's board of management. "The advice on offer is the school can remain a focal point for students to come to and this can help with the healing.

"Counselling will be available at the school on Monday and Tuesday next although the school will be closed for Easter holidays. Parents can also avail of the counselling.

"At the moment, school is going on and the structure of classes stays the same - so if you're supposed to have maths at 11am, the maths teacher will be there at 11am, but it is much less intense than usual. Teachers have been advised by counsellors how to run these classes," he added.

It is understood the children who were in Tuesday's crash were yesterday driven to school by parents. It is not yet clear if parents will return to a previous arrangement of paying a private contractor to bring the children to school.

The school will close tomorrow but Mr White's Junior Certificate classmates will form a guard of honour as his remains are removed from St Bridget's Church.

Hundreds of locals, including parents and survivors, have over the last two days been visiting the sight of the crash at Erry, Clara. A large number of floral tributes have been placed at the scene.

The State Examinations Commission (SEC) has rescheduled practical exams in music and home economics for Junior Certificate students at the school until after their return from Easter holidays at the end of this month.

These exams commenced in schools around the country last week and were due to finish tomorrow. Leaving Certificate students are also undertaking language exams this week with oral tests being conducted in Irish, French, German, Spanish and Italian. The SEC is being guided by the school and is giving students who wish to defer their oral tests the option to do so, possibly until after Easter.