This article is from page 27 of the 2007-10-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 27 JPG
THE establishment of a school bus run would ensure all young people in Shannon can get easy access to school.
That’s according to local Fianna Fail councillor Geraldine Lambert, who is calling on the Department of Education to set up a school bus Service, in the town.
She said it would be a cost effective means of addressing over-capacity and under-capacity in the schools.
Currently, St Aidan’s and St Co- naire’s Primary Schools are full to
capacity, while spaces exist in St Senan’s and St Tola’s.
St Aidan’s and St Conaire’s are lo- cated in the Tullyvarraga and Bally- casey areas, where there have been significant developments in house constructions over the years.
As a result, some children in those areas cannot gain access to those schools, due to over-capacity, while other schools in other parts of the town have spaces available.
The problem lies in the fact that some families do not have access to transport to bring their children across the town, to other schools.
Cllr Lambert said a simple solution to the problem could be found, if a bus route was set up.
“There are calls to build new schools and extensions. Some par- ents at the Ballycasey end bring their children to St Tola’s and St Senan’s, but some don’t have access. A bus should be provided to bring the chil- dren to the schools which are not full,” said Clr Lambert.
She said that a similar situation exists at second-level, where St Caimin’s is full, while there are spaces available in St Patrick’s Com- prehensive School.
“There 1s capacity at St Patrick’s, which is a mile from St Caimin’s.
‘There is pressure at one end of the town and capacity at the other end. It is too far for the children to walk. There is probably a need to look for a new school at a later stage. For now, why not take a cost effective method and put on a school bus from one end of the town to the other,” she said.
“The Department of Education should look at innovative ways, in- stead of sticking to a rigid rule. You would put on a bus for ten years for what you would pay for an exten- sion,’ she said.