Up to 50 Cork school children left with no bus places after premises moves

Some of the families from Mount Oval and Fort Hill, Cork, John Collier, Michael Kaczmarek, Marcin Miechwk, Onur Ince, Eileen Guiney, Anna Klepczarek, Sharon Fitzmorris, Igor Serqutin and Albane Ripert. Their children cannot get a bus to the Douglas Rochestown Educate Together National School. Picture: Dan Linehan

Up to 50 pupils of a Cork city school have not been able get a place on a bus to the school since it was relocated to a new building last month. 

The Douglas Rochestown Educate Together national school opened at its new premises on Carr’s Hill on January 23, after previously being located in Garryduff.

Now, up to 50 pupils — from the Mount Oval, Fort Hill, and Broadale areas — can't get a place on school transport for the new location, even though they are further away than the required 3.2km limit.

John Collier, a parent of a child in third class, said he was shocked to discover his daughter did not qualify for a place on the bus.

“We are 5.2km (away) using the shortest route up Garryduff, down Maryborough Hill, and across to the school through Maryborough Woods," he said. 

Mr Collier alleged the Bus Éireann system for allocating spaces on the scheme mapped out a route “that involved going down a one-way road in the wrong direction, taking an illegal left onto the N28 southbound and after 1Km taking an illegal right across three lanes of traffic to the slip road from Carrigaline to Douglas”.

He said the bus which services the school “passes up past our estate every morning to pick up kids from Foxwood at Garryduff, The Boroughs, and across from Broadale. All these children lived closer to the school than we do."

'The bus would be a welcome service'

Another parent, Jodie Deane, has two children attending the school. She said: “There are many parents without the option to drive to school. We are carpooling but the bus would be a very welcome service. The only option is to use the 216 bus which is often full and you have to walk up a busy road from the stop so parents are still required to go with their children.” 

The issue was raised last week by Sinn Féin education spokesman Donnchadh O Laoghaire with Minister for Education Norma Foley during a sitting of the Select Committee on Education and Skills. Mr O Laoghaire said a diagram used by the Department of Education and Bus Éireann for the school shows “a traversable route that is not accessible by foot, bike or car in any legal or safe manner”.

In recent weeks, both Mr O Laoghaire and Labour’s Sean Sherlock have submitted parliamentary questions on the issue.

In response to the PQs, Ms Foley said: “Bus Éireann has advised that they are currently assessing all the school transport applications received for the school referred to by the Deputy and that all the children who are deemed eligible for school transport will be accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation. Bus Éireann will liaise directly with all the families concerned.” 

Bus Éireann says that safety is its first priority in planning school transport routes and that the system of determining the distance of the shortest traversable route under the terms of the scheme is applied nationally. This computerised system primarily measures the route distance and does not take into account any one mode of transport.

It added: “The route to the recently-opened Douglas/Rochestown Educate National School is being reviewed following discussions with the Department of Education.”