‘Fatal accident’ warning about speeding near school entrance

CARS routinely speed on the roads around St Mark’s Community School in Springfield and parents fear it may lead to a fatal accident, according to a member of the school’s parents’ association.

Jackie Barry, whose teenage son attends the school, said that cars speeding on the road in front of and to the side of the busy secondary school is a daily occurrence.

“I’m on the parents’ association in St Mark’s, and over the last few years we’ve been in touch with South Dublin County Council looking for traffic calming measures at the school,” Ms Barry said.

“At the front of the school, just past the entrance, there is a yellow thing in the middle, but the kids and the motorists don’t know if it’s a crossing.

“We need something to let the cars see there is a crossing. The speed of the cars coming down that road is unbelievable.

“How no one has been killed there yet, I don’t know.”

Last Friday, shortly after students from St Mark’s had finished school, there was an incident which left a car overturned on the road with a trail of debris, including shattered glass, behind it.

“That happened at four o’clock on Friday,” Ms Barry told The Echo. “We’re blessed that the children leaving the school just missed that, because there would’ve been a major catastrophe.

“Somebody is going to be killed on that road – are they going to wait until a child is knocked down and seriously injured?”

Ms Barry added that this issue has been raised with the council in the past but so far, the local authority’s response has been unsatisfactory.

“I’m not impressed at all,” she said. “Every meeting that we have for the parents’ association, this is brought up, but trying to get the council to do something about it is like banging your head off a brick wall.

“Are we just waiting for a fatal accident to happen before something is done?

“The parents and teachers have been fighting for this for a long time but nothing’s been done – our voices aren’t being heard.”

The parents’ association has also received support from St Mark’s GAA Club, who are also calling for traffic-calming measures to be implemented on the road as it impacts club members too.

“We need to highlight this,” added Ms Barry. “Our concern is with children coming and going from St Mark’s being knocked down and injured.”

The Echo contacted South Dublin County Council to ask if it was aware of the issue and what action would be taken to deal with it, but a response wasn’t received at the time of going to print.