Stranded: Kilkenny children left with no schoolbus place

Children living in a rural part of Kilkenny are left stranded without a bus place to get them to their primary school.

According to parent, Natasha Newsome Drennan her three sons have no way to get to school at Scoil Phadraig in Ballyhale, which is approximately five miles away from their home in Knockmoylan.

“There are at least 26 children affected, who have been told that there is no room for them on the school bus to Ballyhale in the morning,” said Natasha.

On Monday morning a number of parents and students gathered outside Ballyhale National School to protest at the lack of available space on the school bus.

“I don’t know what will happen if this does not get sorted out,” said Natasha adding that in recent years the school has increased in size.

“We need an additional morning bus to accommodate this,” she said.

Three of Natasha’s sons - Finaly and Fiachra (11) and Denzel (10) have been informed that there is no room for them on the school bus in the mornings but they were issued tickets for the return bus in the afternoons.

“This is the third time this has happened, I have been onto Bus Eireann and they have told me there are no tickets available for them in the mornings’.

“My children live in Knockmoylan and it is eight kilometres to the school so it is not possible to walk. When the boys were on the bus I dropped them at the end of the road at 8.20am and then went onto work for 9am.

“I can’t drop them to school without it impacting on my work and along with a lot of other parents I need my wages.

“The bus is the safest option for dropping off the children and collecting them as the bus has a designated area to park in, it is also better for the environment and it does not impact on the working lives of parents.

Natasha, who ran for Sinn Féin in the recent local elections,  and her children do not live in the catchment area for the school so they are not automatically eligible for a bus ticket, but go into a lottery to see if they can get a concessionary ticket.

Sinn Féin Spokesperson for Education, Sorca Dunne has raised the matter with the Minister for Education, Norma Foley and has also contacted Bus Eireann on behalf of a number of parents at Scoil Phádraig in Ballyhale.

Deputy Dunne said she was many of the parents of children who were classified as ‘concessionary’ have not received school bus tickets for the coming school year adding that it is her understanding that the school has an intake of over 30 new children starting this year.

“These parents are at their wits end. For some this is not the first year that their children have not been offered a seat on the bus and many are now scrambling to find alternatives and engaging with employers regarding potentially cutting their working hours and pay, which many can ill afford. One mother has told me for her children, this will be the third time that they were not offered a seat throughout their school years to date.”

PLEADED

The TD pleaded with the Minister for Education and Bus Eireann to urgently review this service ‘as the impact is profound on the children and parents and to meet with and directly engage with parents in this instance’.

Another woman, who lives in the Stoneyford area of Kilkenny said she recently was informed that her daughter who is due to start secondary school in Kilkenny had not been offered a place on the school bus.

“I got an email saying that my daughter did not get a place on the bus, we have no other way for my daughter to get to the school,” she said.