No word from Education Minister for parents seeking bus service

PARENTS in Bantry have taken to protesting publicly to highlight the need for a school bus service to Schull.

The parents of 31 children held a rally at Wolfe Tone Square in Bantry on Friday to remind Education Minister Norma Foley that school is about to start, but they have yet to receive a reply from her department.

‘A school bus service is critical if we are to secure our children’s right to education and well-being, particularly for those with special needs,’ according to Helen O’Neill, a mother of one of the students, and the group spokesperson.

Helen explained that her daughter, Olivia, who is autistic, has been struggling with severe anxiety and school avoidance due to the size of the school in Bantry. But she acknowledged that Olivia’s two siblings have no such issues.

‘We are asking for the absolute basics by requesting a school bus from Bantry to Schull,’ said Helen, who said she cannot drive her daughter to school due to her work commitments, while her husband is unable to drive due to epilepsy.

Parents who want their children to attend Schull Community College claim that the Bantry school, Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí – which was formed in 2011 following the amalgamation of two post-primary schools – is ‘over capacity.’

But Marian Carey, the principal of Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí, said that is not the case. ‘We have the full normal allocation of teachers and are able to facilitate everyone in recommended class sizes for specific subjects,’ she said.

‘What that means is that we never go over the recommended ratios at any time, and recommended learning supports are provided as well.

‘In addition, we have added rooms to the school in recent years. In the last three years, we have added three special classes to cater for children with special needs,’ said Marian Carey. Some of the 31 students in need of the bus service are already attending Schull Community College, which has about 350 students.

According to the protesting parents, they have identified a bus operator but they said it would ‘require subsidisation’ to make it affordable.

The parents also argued that without a bus service there would be more than 20 cars on the road twice a day, travelling 25km each way.

‘The emissions from these cars would be significant, while a single bus would solve that problem,’ according to Helen O’Neill.

‘We have resorted to public protest because we have no other option,’ she stated. ‘Minister Norma Foley has not engaged with us, and we still have no school bus secured for our 31 children. ‘The uniforms are bought, the school shoes too, but there’s no bus to take them the 30km to and from school.’

Where is the government’s ‘green’ agenda now, local TD Michael Collins asked, as he referred to the several cars which will be driven in place of school buses. He said that despite a review of the School Transport Scheme having started in 2021, and recommendations published last January, no improvements have been made to the system for the beginning of this new school year.

He referred to the issue in Bantry with parents ‘begging’ for transport to Schull.

‘We have the same in Ardfield to Rosscarbery. Where is the green agenda now?’ The minister and department’s lack of urgency in addressing the issue was ‘deeply concerning’, he said. ‘This situation needs a definitive resolution. The stress and anxiety inflicted on parents and students due to this avoidable inaction is not only appalling but also entirely preventable,’ he added.

Bus Éireann said that in relation to the route in question, most pupils reside closer to schools in Bantry, Skibeereen, Dunmanway and Kenmare and are therefore not eligible under the terms of the post-primary scheme.