Fears for children's safety at traffic island in Dundalk

Cllr Robert Nash has called for action to be taken to ensure children's safety, outside St Joseph's National School at Tom Bellew in Dundalk, where cars are being parked in front of a traffic island, and children exiting the cars, onto the road to go to school.

Cllr Nash, who has raised the issue with Louth County Council, has said that the school has made parents aware of the dangers and that gardaí have also called to the location.

The Fine Gael councillor is calling for bollards to be installed at the traffic islands to stop cars from being able to park there.
Cllr Nash told the Dundalk Democrat that, “I was asking for bollards to be put up so they can't park. It's very dangerous with kids getting out of cars onto live roads. It's madness.”

The Dundalk South councillor said that the school has already warned parents against parking in the middle of the road when dropping off and collecting children from school, and that An Garda Síochána has also been down there on a number of occasions, but that “it hasn't stopped it at all”, he added.

Cllr Nash said: “The school has called for the island to be made bigger so they can't stop in the middle of the road. I don't know if that would be possible so I was thinking of bollards either side of the white lines to stop them parking. It's just madness in the mornings.

Louth County Council has been contacted for a comment on the issue.